Brain Fitness Stories: Ed Steenerson

A communicator gets his voice back.

Interpersonal communication has always been important to Ed Steenerson, first as a rehabilitation psychologist and later as an engineer and manager in the high-tech industry. Ed’s leadership and team-building skills were all the more remarkable in light of the head trauma he had suffered from a serious injury in his teens. Through hard work and persistence, Ed had learned to overcome the after-effects on his memory and cognition. But while working for a Fortune 100 company in his early 40s, things began to fall apart.

Ed found he could no longer remember things, stay focused, and work in group settings. His short-term memory and concentration deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t function at meetings. “You need to be fluent in exchanges with people, deal with surprises, and think on your feet,” Ed explains. “I could no longer be effective in this highly competitive world.”

Caught in a spiral of declining skills and fading self-esteem, Ed withdrew from much of life, shying away from the people and activities that had previously meant so much to him. As he said, “I just didn’t want to look stupid.”

Ed sought the care of a neuropsychologist, with whom he started neuro-feedback treatment. This softened his mood swings but had little noticeable impact on his memory and concentration. Some “brain stimulation” software he tried also had no effect. Then, on his psychologist’s advice, Ed began using the Posit Science Brain Fitness Program.™

Even before completing the program, Ed began to notice a striking improvement in his short-term memory and overall mental acuity. To his delight, he found he was once again able to grasp, recall, and work with information gleaned from reading, conversations, and watching the news. Ed’s family and friends noticed amazing changes in his behavior. In his own words, “It’s like I’ve walked out of a fog. Anybody who’s known me over past several years will have seen a real turnaround since the Brain Fitness Program.”

With the rekindling of his conversation skills and self-confidence, Ed started making connections with a circle of highly intelligent, well-informed people — engaging once again in the stimulating discussions he had enjoyed so much in the past. A lost part of Ed’s life had truly returned.

Retired now and in his early 60s, Ed has dedicated himself to serving his community and joining in activities that promote world peace and environmental renewal. This involves attending meetings, thinking critically, and exchanging ideas — activities Ed can now pursue with enthusiasm and confidence.

“When you’re not all there memory-wise, you don’t understand stuff and have to ask people after meetings to repeat things and tell you what went on,” he explains. “These are no longer problems for me. Now people ask me what went on!”

Having experienced such a dramatic improvement, Ed is more than willing to keep going. “It’s almost a full 180-degree turnaround, and I’ll get closer and closer to that as I go through the Brain Fitness Program again.”