In this article, neuropsychologist Genoveva Montoya Murillo presents the experience of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra in using NeuronUP as a key tool in its cognitive rehabilitation program.
Introduction
Cognitive neurorehabilitation has taken on a central role in the comprehensive care of patients with acquired brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases, or other neurological disorders. In this context, the use of specialized digital platforms has revolutionized clinical practice, improving both the personalization of treatments and patient motivation.
About the Clínica Universidad de Navarra
The Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN) was founded in 1962 by Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer and has become an internationally renowned university hospital. With locations in Pamplona and Madrid, it stands out for its multidisciplinary approach, excellence in care, and direct ties to biomedical research. It has more than 3,800 full-time professionals.
Based on the Anglo-Saxon, research-driven model, it offers more than 46 medical and surgical specialties. Its track record has earned it recognition as the private hospital with the best reputation up to ten times, and it has been included among the 100 best hospitals in the world.
Neurology department of the Clínica Universidad de Navarra
The CUN’s Neurology department has a multidisciplinary team of professionals made up of neurologists, geriatricians, neuropsychologists, nurses, nursing assistants, and research collaborators. The profile of the patients seen is broad and varies depending on the disease or condition.
The department treats patients with acquired brain injury (such as stroke or traumatic brain injury), neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease), cancer patients, autoimmune diseases (such as multiple sclerosis), headaches (such as migraine), epilepsy, or any condition that affects the central nervous system.
Cognitive rehabilitation and stimulation are both approached from a person-centered perspective, combining scientific evidence with individualized interventions. The work is based on functional goals aimed at improving independence, quality of life, and social participation.
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Cognitive rehabilitation with NeuronUP at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra
NeuronUP is a digital platform designed for neurorehabilitation professionals that offers a wide range of structured exercises in cognitive areas such as attention, memory, executive functions, language, and reasoning.
The Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN) began incorporating NeuronUP into its clinical practice as part of its commitment to therapeutic innovation and to be able to treat patients nationwide, giving all of them the opportunity to receive treatment from the comfort of their homes.
Telerehabilitation with NeuronUP
Because the NeuronUP platform can be used from any computer with internet access, it has allowed us to support patients in different cities, who can count on the support and treatment of their usual professionals without any loss of quality.
We schedule remote interventions individually, taking into account each patient’s cognitive profile. This allows us to offer a personalized intervention every week. Patients can access their scheduled sessions at any time and can pause a session and resume it later.
In our case, once the weekly work is completed, we follow up by phone to discuss the results, highlighting strengths and goals to work on the following week, and offering strategies to solve any problems that may have come up during the session.
Likewise, thanks to the option of choosing different languages, we have offered sessions in Catalan and English to make the interventions more ecological, prioritizing an intervention centered on the person and their preferences.
Why we decided to work with NeuronUP
The decision to implement NeuronUP came from the need for a flexible, interactive tool that would allow us to design personalized programs adapted to each patient’s pace and available in different languages.
We also needed to support all the patients who come to us from all over Spain and who want to keep working with their usual professionals from a distance. Its implementation has allowed us to offer patients a more dynamic and engaging type of intervention.
Benefits of NeuronUP in interventions
The most notable benefits include:
- Remote access for all patients across the country.
- Greater motivation among younger patients and a challenge for older patients who have never had access to technology.
- Precision in selecting and adapting activities according to the neuropsychological profile.
- Quantitative tracking of progress.
- Hybrid work, with the option of working both on screen and with paper-based tasks.
How patients have received NeuronUP
Patients’ response has been overwhelmingly positive. Many highlight the playful nature of the activities, the attractive visual design, and the sense that they are learning to use technology in a safe environment.
In older patients, even those with little experience with technology, we have seen gradual adaptation thanks to the platform’s ease of use and professional support.
Success stories in cognitive rehabilitation at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra with NeuronUP
Individual intervention in a patient with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)
One notable case is that of a 74-year-old woman with a secondary education, diagnosed with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, who lived independently and came to the clinic because of frequent forgetfulness, difficulty following long conversations, and a feeling of being “scatterbrained” in everyday tasks.
After the neuropsychological assessment, an individual cognitive stimulation program was proposed, with weekly 45–50 minute sessions using the NeuronUP platform to work on preserved cognitive functions and compensate for those in decline.
The goals of this individual program included:
- Reinforcing memory strategies,
- improving sustained attention,
- and promoting a sense of cognitive control.
A typical session included some of the following activities:
- Who raised their hand?, focused on encoding and retrieval in episodic and working memory. It’s a game in which users have to remember the order in which classmates raised their hands and reproduce it in the same way.
- Mark the different image, to work on processing speed and selective attention. These are worksheets in which users have to point to the image that is different in a series.
- Memorize the order, aimed at training episodic memory. With these worksheets, users have to put in order a series of visual items they memorized beforehand.
- Sorting Bugs, to work on processing speed and attentional processes. It’s a game in which users have to rearrange different moving items so that each one, depending on its type, ends up on the correct side of the screen.
The tasks were adapted to the patient’s context, incorporating content that was meaningful to her (daily habits, hobbies). Throughout the sessions, external strategies (using planners, spaced repetition) and internal strategies (visualization, categorization) were also reinforced.
The patient was very engaged, completing her sessions every week and working on her weekly goals. She showed better performance in attention and working memory, making it easier, for example, to memorize numbers. After six weeks, she reported feeling more confident in her daily life, with greater attention, less frustration about forgetting things, and more initiative to keep up her social and intellectual activities.
Individual telerehabilitation intervention for mild cognitive impairment associated with Parkinson’s
Another notable case is that of a 65-year-old man with a secondary education, diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment associated with Parkinson’s disease, with attention lapses, mild impulsivity, and impaired executive functions.
After reviewing his case, cognitive rehabilitation was recommended. However, because there were no resources where he lives, an online intervention was proposed. Weekly one-hour sessions were scheduled, to be completed in 30- or 60-minute blocks depending on the patient’s availability.
Once the session is completed, it is reviewed to set goals and see what mistakes or questions he may have had, as well as the goals achieved. To do this, a phone appointment is scheduled to go over these points, and after discussing any questions with the patient, the next session is scheduled.
A typical session included some of the following activities:
- Trains, focused on processing speed, spatial relations, planning, and sustained attention. It’s a game in which users have to collect all the train cars that appear without crashing into anything.
- Colored balloons, which works on sustained attention, inhibition, and processing speed. In this game, users have to stay focused on a stimulus that keeps changing color and respond only when the indicated one appears.
- Linked operations, aimed at working memory. These are worksheets in which you have to complete a series of chained operations.
- Escape the Maze, to work on planning and sustained attention. This activity involves getting from one point to another inside a maze.
The patient highlighted how fun the exercises were, as well as the flexibility of the sessions. He showed very good adherence to the intervention and a very positive attitude, which was a very important part of the results obtained, showing improvement in the exercises he worked on.
Conclusion
The CUN’s experience with NeuronUP reflects the potential of digital technologies in personalized cognitive rehabilitation. Its implementation has enriched interventions, improved adherence, and made follow-up easier. This model shows that innovation, when guided by scientific and humanistic criteria, can transform therapeutic practice without losing sight of what matters most: the person.
If you enjoyed this blog post on cognitive rehabilitation at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra with NeuronUP, you may also be interested in these NeuronUP articles:
“This article has been translated. Link to the original article in Spanish:”
La rehabilitación cognitiva en la Clínica Universidad de Navarra con NeuronUP: una experiencia de innovación y humanización
The most used NeuronUP games in 2025
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