In January, Oregonian columnist Elizabeth Hovde sustained a TBI in a skiing accident on Mt. Hood. Her fall caused a coma that kept her in the hospital for two weeks, and then a rehabilitation center for another three weeks. She came home in February, but didn't write her next column until the end of May. In it, she explains waking up:

I remember the ridiculous. And I remember the day I came back.

I used to think all the nurses and doctors around me were "Star Wars" people that I had to escape. And I remember the morning I woke up in the hospital knowing that I was in fact in a hospital, not a rebel ship, and thinking the doctors, therapists and nurses were good people who were there to help me. I prayed to God the entire day for the suspicious, scary days to be over and for the "everyone is good" days to stay.

OPB Think Out Loud is inviting readers to write questions for Elizabeth Hovde and encouraging them to discuss the process of healing after a brain injury. 

Join the discussion:

http://opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/elizabeth-hovde/

Read Eizabeth Hovde's first column since her brain injury:

http://www.oregonlive.com/hovde/index.ssf/2011/05/traumatic_brain_injury_back_fr.html

Dr. Brian Greenwald medical director of brain injury rehabilitation at Mt. Sinai Medical Center describes how a person can be changed by a brain injury:

"Although we think of ourselves as our car or our house or what dress we like, what we are is our brain – the mush in the head that is the same consistency as Jell-o – It's our thoughts and our emotions and our moods."

Giffords' congressional staff, Dr. Greenwald, and others caution that regaining speech and rejoining Congress are two different issues:

"Add it all together and she's able to express the basics of what she wants or needs... But when it comes to a bigger and more complex thought that requires words, that's where she's had the trouble."

Read the full story and watch related news videos:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/gabby-giffords-recovery-rosy-experts-reality-check/story?id=13829783

Recently, the business of 'brain-training' software has rapidly grown in profile. Earlier this year, the the Department of Defense awarded a $2 million grant to study the effectiveness of Posit Science software in restoring memory and attention in victims of traumatic brain injury. The company Luminosity has secured a grant through the Navy to study how its brain training games can improve cognitive ability and fluid intelligence.

Can game-like software really help adults with brain injury improve memory, attention and language skills, over the long-term?

Early research looked promising, but critics doubt that short-term improvements in memory would last longer than the three-month period observed in most studies. The randomized clinical trial through the DoD would test 132 service members with mild TBI over a six month period – the final test would be 3 months after the end of cognitive training.

In short, more research needs to be done to gauge the impact of 'brain-training' on cognitive skills in specific populations (e.g. adults with brain injury), over a longer period of time.

Recent articles:

New York Times/The Bay Citizen – Turning to Software to Help Treat Brain Injuries

Ars Technica – Brain Training Boosts Working Memory, But Only In Some People

Fast Company – Why "Brain Gyms" May Be The Next Big Business

Blogs.Forbes.com – Luminosity Looks to Make Military Smarter with Navy Grant