Many people who survive brain trauma have difficulty with language and speech. The word you want may be right there, but you can’t get it out and the more you struggle the harder and more frustrating it becomes. The inability to communicate with those around you can be depressing and isolating. Some people spontaneously recover language after their stroke, but for others it is an ongoing process - just like exercise and physical recovery. Even if your speech was not affected, you may still have some cognitive challenges.

 

Work Out Your Words activities combine movement with speech. Naming your movement and repeating it as you work out imprints the words and mates them with the action. Repetition is the key to rewiring the brain to improve both speech and movement. Put them together and both will benefit.

 

Mastering a new exercise requires motor learning - a process where repetition encodes the movement in the brain. Once the skill has been imprinted, muscle memory will recall that skill when it is needed in the future. If you have practiced naming the movement as you do it, the word recall may piggyback when muscle memory reminds you how to complete an exercise.

Work Out Your Words!