Functional Cognition Lab

The Functional Cognition Newsletter

The Functional Cognition Lab is a clinical training system designed for occupational, physical, and speech therapy clinicians who want to better understand and apply cognition in real-world practice. Through short, actionable emails delivered three times per week, you’ll learn how to recognize patterns, understand breakdown in performance, and confidently apply strategies in your sessions—so you’re no longer guessing what to do when something feels off.

Functional Cognition Lab

A weekly clinical training system delivered through short, actionable insights. Designed for occupational, physical, and speech therapy clinicians who integrate cognition into everyday practice.

Why Your Patients Aren’t “Just Forgetful”

In the last few issues, we’ve broken memory down into: levels (working, short-term, long-term) types (prospective, verbal, visual, motor, procedural) At this point, most clinicians can look at a patient and say: 👉 “Okay… this is the type of memory problem I’m seeing.” But here’s where things us...

by Michelle C. Eliason MS OTR/L — Mar 30, 2026 foundational memory series

The Memory Types That Actually Impact Daily Life

In the last issue, we broke memory down into three levels: Working memory Short-term memory Long-term memory And more importantly: 👉 where those systems break down in real patients Now we’re going one layer deeper. Because memory doesn’t just break at a “level”… 👉 it breaks in how information i...

by Michelle C. Eliason MS OTR/L — Mar 28, 2026 foundational memory series

Where Memory Actually Breaks (Clinically)

In the last issue, we broke down a simple but important idea: 👉 “Memory problems” is not a diagnosis. It’s a starting point. Because memory is not one thing — it’s a system. Now we’re going to take the next step: 👉 Where does memory actually break down in real patients? Start Here: The 3 Breakdo...

Mar 28, 2026

Stop Saying “Memory Problems”

When someone says a patient has “memory problems,” that tells us basically nothing. That’s like a mechanic saying your car has “car problems.” It might sound right… but it doesn’t help you fix anything. And in clinical practice, if you don’t know exactly what’s wrong — you end up: guessing overg...

by Michelle C. Eliason MS OTR/L — Mar 28, 2026 foundational memory series