Cognitive Stimulation through Applications

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Charles McCarthy
Cognitive Stimulation through Applications

Technological advances are finding great application possibilities in the field of psychology. From virtual reality tools to treat different fears and phobias to applications like Stimulus that improve and stimulate cognitive abilities through tablets and mobile phones.

On the occasion of the emergence of new technologies in the Psychology sector, last April the First International Congress of Psychology focused on Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship was held in Almería. The organization of this congress sought, as a fundamental objective, to increase the degree of awareness of the change that the profession of psychologist is experiencing and to balance it with technological development.

The cognitive stimulation applications are an extra help to practice at home the activities carried out during therapy.

Brain aging

Cognitive training is intended to prevent premature aging of the brain. Various studies have found that the brain of an 80-year-old person has lost (on average) 15% of its original weight.

This phenomenon does not occur in any other species and various theories maintain that it is due to the fact that the volume of our brain is comparatively higher than that of other animals. In addition, another very important factor to consider is the fact that human beings live much longer than primates, our closest relatives..

Perhaps this prolongation of our life expectancy is what has caused the cognitive deterioration of an organ that, initially, was not prepared to remain in operation for so many years.

Contrary to what many people assume, the loss of cognitive abilities begins very early in life. The initial deterioration begins after the age of 20, however it is a very slow and almost imperceptible loss.

Importance of cognitive training in older people

The exercises that are proposed in this type of applications are usually linked to memory, calculation, reasoning or communication and are especially indicated for the elderly or with some type of disability.

In addition, the possibility of measuring the patient's performance in different areas makes it possible to quantify the inevitable cognitive deterioration caused by the passing of the years..

When starting a cognitive training, the first thing we must do is establish a diagnosis that defines the person's cognitive and brain capacity. Starting from this starting point, it will be much easier for us to establish a training program appropriate to the base level of each patient..

From here, the objective will be to strengthen the areas that need to improve their capacity and above all avoid their decline over the years..

The data provided by these tools helps us to carry out a constant analysis of the results after each session. In this way, it is possible to evaluate the evolution and performance of each of the cognitive areas treated in order to make modifications in the training..

With the passing of the sessions and the acquisition of new skills by the patient, the difficulty of the exercises in these applications can be increased..


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