Hockey,

Check out lumosity.com. It's a good place for brain exercise games.

Hockey,

I would suggest playing Sudoku if you can. The mental math required is a very good exercise. It works on multi-step problems. Simple computer games like those included with Windows, Minesweeper, FreeCell, and some others work on visual perception skills, sequencing, visualization, etc.

The Nintendo DS games may track your progress, but I would not get hung up on tracking progress. Keep in mind that some of the progress noted is due to the repetitions. Other improvements are due to 'learning.' You get better at understanding the tasks and may even memorize some tasks. It is hard to differentiate between recovery of functions and learning new functions.

And, I would suggest being very open to recognize any mental fatigue. Muscles get strengthened by repeated fatigue. This is the opposite for the brain. As soon as you notice fatigue, take a break and maybe a short nap.

If you want a real challenge, check out Posit Science Corporation. They make brain exercises for the very serious. www.positscience.com. Also www.braintrain.com and www.sharpbrains.com.

The tasks that are good to work on are memory, especially mixed and interrupted memory. Memory where you have to recall in a different order and memory that is recalled after interference stimuli. Sequencing, sorting, and any efforts where you have to process the memorized items to come up with an answer. The more abstract the items memorized, the better.

David,
Regarding altitude, commercial flights other than air taxi, are required by law to maintain a cabin altitude of 8,000 feet. The airlines would not pressurize to 8,000 feet if they did not have to. Pressurization uses up jet fuel. If a commercial aircraft flew with a cabin altitude of 15,000 feet, half the passengers would pass out, especially any with heart or lung problems.

Sports at altitude, like skiing, are not even close to the same as neurological conditions at altitude. The blood can acclimate to altitude so that the lungs can better transport oxygen to the muscles. I am confused by what you mean when you said <The pressurization of the plane is far lower than sea level and the air is thinner.>

Any prospective pilot is taught the neurological effects of altitude. It is required for the FAA exams. I used the wrong term, 'vapor' pressure should have been 'partial' pressure. My damaged brain at work. SCUBA divers also need to understand partial pressure theory.

If you think that recovery is a philosophical issue, then the injury would be a philosophical injury. There are psychological components to PCS that, once recovered, make the PCS subject feel much better. The physiological components will recover better if the psychological issues are treated. Stress is a very negative factor to recovery.

The physiological components may heal to a point that, under normal circumstances, feels 100%. Put that same brain under stress, due to oxygen levels, stress chemicals, poor nutrition, illness, fever, etc. and the residual damage will become evident.

Also, there is a vast difference in the healing mechanisms of different tissues in the body. Muscle and bone tissue heal great. This is in part due to the 'remodeling' feature muscles and bones have. They lose cells constantly, as they get old. These cells are replaced with new cells. Some call this a remodeling function. It performs at all ages as long as nutrition is maintained, except for bones.

Osteoporosis is a result of this regrowth of new bone cells being hampered by hormonal irregularities and Vitamin D and calcium deficiencies. Biphosphonate drugs slow or stop the loss of the older bones cells. The women using them end up with dense bones with many old cells.

Although neuroscientists see evidence that there is some regrowth of brain cells, it is slow and not necessarily predictable. Young brains may rewire around damaged areas as the brain cells are continuing to grow and organize, sometimes until 25 years old. There is hope in stem cell therapy but it is still years if not decades away.

So, mind your brains. You were only given one. Use it to protect it for a lifetime of use. As one who has a number of brain damaged friends, erring on the side of caution is a good idea. One study suggests that as many as 60% of our prison population has suffered brain damage, mostly previously undiagnosed, such a PCS.

Thanks for the game link. I just scored 20% in the migrating bird game so I think this is a site that will really help me focus on my weaknesses.

I'm going back to see what else is there.

Thanks Again!

Hockey,

You are very welcome. I really like this program because it is very affordable and it is just as good as any other brain training products out there. Enjoy!

Hey David,

Glad to hear that you were able to make a complete recovery from your head injury. I couldn't agree with you more that people can make a complete recovery from head injuries to lead normal lives and even extraordinary lives. Just read about Abraham Lincoln (my favorite president). He suffered a pretty bad head injury in his youth which contributed to his reading disability in his adult life, and I would say he had a pretty good life....

Something you may want to look into when you get older is neurofeedback. Scientists are now discovering that people who suffered a head injury in their younger days start to show memory decline and other symptoms in their late 40's and 50's. They also discovered that doing neurofeedback helped to completely alleviate these symptoms. There is even a case study of a man in his 70's who received a few concussions in college and who was having symptoms of memory loss and confusion. He did 70 sessions of neurofeedback and this completely reversed his memory loss and cognitive decline.

There are a number. I picked Nintendo DS for a few reasons. First it’s cheap. It’s way less than a PS3 or something like that. Second it’s portable so you can play it on the train or bus. Third it uses a touch screen and stylus, so it’s a lot of fine motor controls.

There are plenty of remembering knowledge based stuff. Ace Attorney is one such franchise. But I really think the Brain Age games are the way to go.

I based my 15,000' on using a few different air pressure based altimeters that are all accurate on planes. I calibrated each before taking off and got to altitudes of 10,000-15,000’. You won’t pass out at 15,000’ if you’re sitting in a chair not doing anything. Chacaltaya is above 17,000 feet and I skied there the first day up from sea level. I didn’t feel great, that’s for sure, but I also didn’t pass out. I appreciate the FAA may require 8,000’, but I’ve never had a reading that low. I calculate the effective altitude on probably 1 out of every 2 flights I take.

You confuse me. All altimeters are air pressure based. Radio altimeters are only used for AGL, above ground level. GPS based altitude readings are used for auto-pilot based calculations. Barometric altitude reading are the gold standard.

You must have been flying in South America or such to have such high cabin pressures. You could not get an aircraft altimeter on a commercial flight with current TSA regulations without some kind of special waiver. Maybe a watch based altimeter would work. When an aircraft is going to land at high altitude, the cabin pressure will be allowed to rise to the landing airport altitude.

It is very rare to land at airports above 6,000 or 7,000 feet. Aspen airport is at 7,815 feet altitude. It is not uncommon for the density altitude to exceed 10,000 or even 11,000 feet at Aspen airport. At such density altitudes. Many aircraft can not safely take-off or land with only a 7000 foot runway. Altitude effects the wings and engines of aircraft the same as it does brain cells. Too much altitude means too little performance.

Also, as I said, there is a big difference between muscle function and brain cell function. Higher level brain functions like judgment are seriously effected by altitude. This is no different than how alcohol reduces the supply of oxygen to the brain. Both effect judgment skills. Add altitude to PCS limitations and judgment can go downhill fast.

I used a watch based altimeter and a iPhone app. Just because the FAA mandates a certain pressure doesn't mean that much when you're talking about an aging fleet of planes. Try it sometime and you will be surprised.

True I didn’t try to do an IQ test at altitude.

I would not expect than an aging fleet of airplanes will cause cabin pressures to go above standard. The Federal Aviation Regulations requires all commercial turbine powered aircraft, regardless of age to maintain a maximum cabin pressure of 8,000 feet. If you have experienced a cabin pressure above 8,000 feet, it would likely be a minor deviation from 8,000 feet and either way, would justify a complaint be filed with the FAA.

Operating an iPhone in other than 'inflight' mode, is a serious violation of current TSA/FAA regulations. Apple has programmed the iPhone to disable the GPS function during inflight mode. This is a grievance private pilots have with Apple. Many would like to use their iPhone as a back-up GPS during flight. Operating a cell phone inflight is illegal because it can mess up cell tower networks as the phone can broadcast to multiple towers improperly.

It would be interesting to do an ImPACT test while in flight. It would require a control test at normal ground altitude levels for accurate reference. The ImPACT test can be purchased and downloaded to a laptop computer. It costs $10.00 per test. The uploaded test data is analyzed and the results are relayed to a health practitioner. Purchasing a 2 test license should be a reasonable task.

I have purchased and taken the ImPACT test but have not found a practitioner to have the results forwarded to. I took the test so I could understand the testing methodology. I have taken previous computerized neuro-psychological tests. The ImPACT is just a concussion oriented battery of neuro-psych tests.

There is another computerized test called CNS Vital Signs. It could also be used to check altitude sensitivities.

When I demonstrated problems with altitude, I was not aware of my errors until after I had landed. During the altitude impacted effort to follow a landing check list, I FELT like everything was normal. This is exactly how altitude problems manifest. The subject is usually totally unaware of their difficulties. High altitude climbers rely on others to observe their condition. Self reporting is very unreliable.

One of my problems with PCS is knowing where to draw the line of capability. In matters of safety, I need to be very conservative. When I have not been, Murphy pops up his angry head and stings me. As Murphy says, If something can go wrong, it will. And it will go wrong at the worst possible moment.

I have dodged many bullets, especially driving a car. When the risk is just to myself or my property, the risk may be acceptable. When the risk is to others and their property, the risk is unadvised.
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