"You Owe It to Yourself": Discourses of Hope and Work in Brain Injured Individuals' Experiences With Brain Training Games

Brain training is a multi-million dollar market, with products that boast claims to enhance cognitive functions through the power of neuroplasticity. In this MA research I explore the experiences of individuals with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) who use brain training in an attempt to regain past identities or to create new and improved ones. The concept of neuroplasticity embedded in brain training programs represented hope to brain injured individuals: hope that they could regain skills that they have lost because of their injury. Brain training programs are also part of a larger theme of self-rehabilitation, in which individuals who were either neglected by the healthcare system or who wanted additional care turned to at-home treatments and programs. Finally, I argue that brain training fits with the dominant cultural imperative of health in North American society in which individuals must work to exercise self control and better themselves and their health in order to contribute to society.