Mark,
On one hand I agree with you. Lumosity and PositScience are not designed specifically for those with PCS or mild TBI. They are designed for the aging population and they do have research to support how the games function.

Having said that, playing the games won't necessarily help you generalize to everyday skills. Getting better at a memory game online probably doesn't mean you'll be able to go to the grocery store without your grocery list and remember everything you need.

I recommend using Lumosity and PositScience as a way to strengthen your general cognitive abilities and if anything, give you structured activities to participate in while your brain is healing.

So many of my patients who haven't gone back to work are bored to tears at home. Lumosity and Posit Science may not cure your concussion symptoms, but they are useful strengthening general cognitive skills and for passing the time in a constructive way.

Jena

And maybe Lumosity didn't remind you to play the games the last time you looked into it, but they do send me a daily reminder in my email every day!

A user can have them send you an automated message/reminder by checking that option in their account settings.

That setting has helped me a great deal!! Otherwise, I probably wouldn't remember to play the games within.

The games may or not be proven to help with PCS, but I distinctly notice a decline in my scores when I'm tired or having a bad cognitive day. And I do believe there has been some exceptional improvement relieving my own symptoms since I started playing them.

And I'm reading a book written by a Dr. who recommends cognitive therapy as a means to help people recover from brain injuries who did so herself after she was diagnosed with PCS named Claudia Osborn. The book is called Over My Head. Actually, I find the book itself therapeutic because she totally understands first hand what it's like to recover from a brain injury and that's what the book is about.

Anyway, my insurance group has been giving me the runaround about neuropsychological testing that all the doctors have recommended for me which will point out which therapies I need to recover and I haven't been to work in about ten months - I want to return to work and I want to have something to do, and I do believe these games are at least providing me with something more productive to do than what I was doing before I found them.

But I know what you mean about a surface being too busy to work with; I decided not to purchase a brain exercises book that I saw at Barnes and Noble for that very reason! It was like MTV on paper - I totally can't handle that kind of visual stimulation these days!

I looked into Claudia Osborn. She has a good story. The only problem with it is her injury was much more than a concussion. Her closed head TBI has a much different recovery since it starts at a much lower level of function. I find these people very helpful as an incentive to get on with life.

I meet with a group each month at our Brain Injury Support Group. Ninety percent of the group suffered coma inducing injuries. We have many symptoms that overlap but they started from a much worse condition. Many TBI patients are considered recovered or rehabilitated when they get to the level of common PCS symptoms.

It is worthwhile to read about others who have similar struggles. It helps us realize that we are not alone.

I have done Lumosity with their free trial and their other free promotions plus they have a number of simpler free exercises. I have score very high even though I have persistent memory and other cognitive problems. I have score just as high with the Posit Science set that I have.

Much of the improvement is just simple brain development, not PCS recovery. So, yes, they are both worthwhile activities. Just don't count on these systems to help you recover from your PCS. They may help you learn some work-arounds and other accommodations. These are important skills to have.

Just remember. There is a lot of therapy that is recommended because there is money to be made with the therapy. It also gives the doctor a way to say he is helping when he refers you to a Occupational or other therapist.

Just don't break your bank thinking the therapy is a cure all. It will get you out of the house and interacting with someone on a regular basis which is very worthwhile. But, at what cost.