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Retrain Brain

"Consider stroke victims.  Medical science has made huge advances in patient survival after even massive stokes, some of which can be attributed to better medications and to the upsurge of trauma units, since stokes are ideally dealt with as soon as possible.  Quick treatment is saving countless lives, compared to the past.
"But survival isn't the same as recovery.  No drugs show comparable success in allowing victims to recover from paralysis, the most common effect of a stroke.  ...with stroke patients everything seems to depend on feedback.  In the past they mostly sat in a chair with medical attention, and their course of least resistance was to use the side of the body that was unaffected by their stroke.  Now rehabilitation activly takes the course of most resistance.  If a patient's left hand is paralyzed, for example, the therapist will have her use only that hand to pick up a coffee cup or comb her hair.
"At first these tasks are physically impossible.  Even barely raising a paralyzed hand causes pain and frustration.  But if the patient repeats the intention to use the bad hand, over and over, new feedback loops develop.  The brain adapts, and slowly there is a new function.  We now see remarkable recoveries in patients who walk, talk, and use their limbs normally with intensive rehab.  Even twenty years ago these functions would have shown only minor improvements. 
"And all we have done so far is to explore the implications of two worlds.
"The super brain credo bridges two worlds, biology and experience.  Biology is great at explaining physical processes, but it is totally inadequate at telling us about the meaning and purpose of our subjective experience. ...We need both worlds to understand ourselves.  Otherwise, we fall into the biology fallacy, which holds that humans are controlled by their brains.  Leaving aside countless arguments between various theories of mind and brain, the goal is clear: We want to use our brains, not have them use us." Deepak Chopra, M.D. and Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D. in Super Brain

It is exciting to know that we can retrain our brain and body when there is damage.  Stroke victims are just one avenue that holds out hope for a brighter future.

Renee Madison, MA, LPC, CSAT is a counselor in Colorado.  She can be reached for appointments at 303-257-7623 or 970-324-6928.
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