Program Targets: Stimulating the Six Major Cognitive Areas of the Brain
REACTION TIME
All of the programs begin with a reaction time activity, targeting speed, accuracy and automatic responses. Studies have indicated that an improvement in reaction time may also result in an increase in processing time and may even play a role in fall prevention.
VISUAL -
SPATIAL
These activities target such things as location, position, composition, perspective and the participant’s relationship to his or her environment, with the goal of increasing awareness of self in space and the interrelationship of objects in space.
ATTENTION &
CONCENTRATION
This group of exercises is designed not only to improve skills in these areas but with an eye to memory, since remembering often improves with better attention and concentration.
MEMORY
While other programs attempt to stimulate either short-term or long-term memory, NECC programs strive to help participants move information through the memory network from short-term through to long-term.
LANGUAGE
Targets in the language component include fluency, word retrieval and appropriate usage. Activities are designed to decrease the frequency of cognitive pauses and to increase flexibility and fluency for improved communication, problem solving and higher order thinking.
PROBLEM SOLVING
More complex activities, requiring the use of the other domains to understand a problem and formulate a solution, are introduced in the final segment of each program.