Thank you to all our My Rehab Team Facebook supporters for all your comments to our last blog. This week, we’d like to discuss about visual imagery as a memory strategy.
Imagery
(Visual) Imagery is a fun and helpful way to stimulate memory. For this you need to imagine pictures of the things that you would like to remember. For example, how would you remember the 7 continents of the world – Asia, North America, South America, Antarctica, Africa, Europe, and Australia?
Try to visualise the 7 different types of animals which are found in these places. Panda for Asia, Alligator for North America, Jaguar for South America, Penguin for Antarctica, Giraffe for Africa, and Kangaroo for Australia.
Imagery is also useful for remembering directions. Next time try to remember how to get somewhere by drawing it on a piece of paper. And when you have to think of the direction, visualise the route you drew and see if it helps.
Other rehabilitative use of mental imagery / mental practice:
Visually rehearsing an action is often used in the training of elite athlete. Today, we also have evidence that the mental practice of an action helps with the rehabilitation of that action. One recent Frontline publication (a UK magazine for physiotherapists) even reported an English physio playing DVDs of the movie series “Indiana Jones” on the Rehabilitation Ward and found that by watching the exhilarating physical adventures of another individual patients did better with their rehabilitation! Fascinating, isn’t it?
For more information, please contact our mobile rehab team or neurological rehabilitation service. We are also found on the Medibank Private occupational therapy and physiotherapy providers list.
Stay tune for Part 3!
Image courtesy of njaj, at Free Digital Photo. [Online] Available at: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/Other_Metaphors_and__g307-Eye_In_Eye_with_puzzle_p88117.html (Accessed on 15th December, 2014)