Digital brain therapy vs. “brain games” or “brain training” – know the difference

When we’re at conferences or panels, we often get asked “what is the difference between “brain games” or “brain training” apps, and cognitive and speech therapy apps like Constant Therapy?”

One of our senior executives starts with this analogy from the physical therapy world: He says, “if you tore the rotator cuff in your shoulder and needed help recovering, “brain games” are analogous to buying a gym membership and hoping for the best. On the other hand, digital brain therapy is analogous to visiting your personal Orthopedic Specialist who has seen an injury like yours hundreds of times, knows exactly which muscles and tendons are damaged, and prescribes a specific and customized physical therapy program for your recovery. He or she will continue to check in with you, and adjust your physical therapy program based on your pain level, your performance, and your recovery goals. Wouldn’t you rather go this route than the gym membership?”

Specialized clinical brain rehabilitation therapy instead of games

When an individual has speech, language or cognitive impairment from stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia, or other neurological disorders, they need specialized clinical rehabilitation therapy, not games.

The difference in the design of brain therapy technology vs. “brain games” technology is broad.

Cognitive therapy, delivered to patients in the clinic by speech-language pathologists or delivered digitally on a tablet for use at home, helps individuals work on regaining lost functionality. It is intentional, methodical, and responsive to individual circumstances. It is designed to be low-stress and non-competitive – individual performance is measured against individual goals, rather than compared to an entire population of users.

For example, if an individual using rehabilitative brain therapy is struggling with a particular exercise in their program, they are automatically given an alternative exercise that can help strengthen the foundation of skills needed to progress, without frustration or confusion. Digital brain therapy is designed to help people improve specific functional capabilities needed for daily living.

Specifically, Constant Therapy’s rehabilitation exercises increase in challenge level over time, at an appropriate pace for each user, based on their individual performance. Users are served actual functional skill exercises such as clock math, voicemail comprehension, map reading, ordering from a menu, reading out loud, using currency, and more.

Our goal at Constant Therapy is to give people the tools to work on getting back to a full and complete life.