Mind1 Project

Mission:
Our mission is to provide neuropsychological assessment and cognitive rehabilitation for patients in Colorado Springs with complaints of cognitive dysfunction due to traumatic brain injury (TBI) or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to research and develop evidence-based practices for cognitive rehabilitation for neurocognitive deficits related to these TBI and PTSD.

No other facilities in Colorado Springs offer cognitive training interventions, and the Mind-1 clinic represents the only comprehensive assessment and rehabilitation clinic for TBI and PTSD-related cognitive dysfunction in Southern Colorado.

Patients receive comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations and have the opportunity to be involved in research investigating the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation techniques. Clinical services and research go hand in hand

Research:
Recent neuroscience research from the scientists at the Center for BrainHealth at University of Texas (UT)-Dallas suggests that innovative brain-training programs can build resilience, reverse mental decline, and restore cognitive losses thereby maximizing brain potential in a broad range of populations, including our nation's wounded warriors.
Wounded military Veterans and other populations benefit from improvements in mood and in activities of daily living, such as financial management, organizational skills, and job retention.  Recently published research from the Center for BrainHealth indicates that these enhancements may be mediated by increases in blood flow and strengthening of neural connections in the frontal lobe regions crucial for executive functions, including planning, decision making, emotional regulation and deeper thinking.

This research, combined with other neuroscience data that demonstrates a disconnection between critical brain processes that direct planning, interpretation, and self-control from the emotional segments of the brain for trauma survivors, raises critically important possibilities for improving recovery in these populations.  Indeed, the evidence from social neuroscience research supports a depletion of resources resulting in disconnection between emotional processing and higher-level brain centers offering insight into the emotional turmoil, impulse control and social challenges that many of our Veterans and other trauma survivors experience. 

However, critical research questions remain and a collaborative partnership between UT-Dallas and the UCCS Veterans Health and Trauma Clinic (VHTC) will combine efforts to further investigate these research questions.

 

For more information on the Mind1 project, email Dr. Charles Benight at cbenight@uccs.edu.