Brain Tool Kit — Concussion Recovery App
Brain Exercises, Vestibular Training & Concussion Recovery: A Guide to Brain Tool Kit
What brain exercises actually do, how vestibular and oculomotor training helps concussion symptoms like dizziness and headaches, and how the Brain Tool Kit app organizes it all in one place — built by a PhD concussion researcher for use with a clinician.
iOS & Android. Built by a PhD concussion researcher. 13 exercise types. Used by concussion clinicians & chiropractors
What is Brain Tool Kit?
Brain Tool Kit is an app for concussion recovery, memory, and concentration, built by Rehab Lab Inc. It's designed to be used in consultation with a rehabilitation or performance specialist rather than as a standalone self-treatment tool, and it's available on both iOS and Android — a deliberate choice made because many comparable tools were iOS-only.
The app organizes brain exercises into three groups that map onto how concussion actually affects the brain: visual/oculomotor exercises, vestibular exercises, and cognitive exercises — letting a clinician assign a specific, progressive program rather than generic "brain games."
Brain exercises included in the app
Here is what each exercise trains and why it matters after a concussion:
Gaze Stability
Trains the eyes to focus on and hold a stable image on the retina — often disrupted after head injury.
Saccade
Trains the quick eye "jumps" used when reading as the eyes move from word to word.
Pursuit
Trains smooth-pursuit eye movements used to track a moving object, like a ball or a car.
Stroop
A neuropsychological task using contrasting stimuli to challenge cognitive interference control.
Optic Pursuit
A visuomotor task combining focus, visual attention, and working memory to track moving targets among distractors.
Subjective Visual Vertical (SVV)
Assesses perception of "vertical," which can be disrupted after head injury or vestibular conditions.
Concentration
Trains the ability to focus on and attend to a task.
Memory
Memory saccades combine attention, eye-movement accuracy, and visual short-term memory in one activity.
OPK
The optokinetic response — slow- and fast-phase eye movements used to assess and train reflexive eye movement.
Hemistim
Visual stimulation interpreted by the opposite side of the brain, used for targeted hemispheric stimulation.
Match It
A Go/No-Go task combining cognitive and motor function — match by colour, number, or letter as quickly and accurately as possible.
Alphabet
A verbal fluency task: say a word starting with each letter as it appears.
Shapes
Identify random shapes, optionally paired with movement for sensorimotor training.
This range is also why practitioners across different disciplines — concussion therapists, chiropractors practicing functional neurology, and vision-focused clinicians — use it as a shared homework and assessment tool.
Who built it: the clinician behind Brain Tool Kit
Melissa Biscardi ("Dr. Brainy") is a concussion clinician, researcher, and the Chief Innovation Officer behind Brain Tool Kit. Her background combines nursing (2007), osteopathic manual therapy training (2013), a Master of Science (2019), and a PhD at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, where her research focuses on virtual-reality–based oculomotor rehabilitation for adults after concussion. She also trained in functional neurology at the Carrick Institute. She has published peer-reviewed articles, contributed to three book chapters, and presented at conferences across Canada and the U.S. Her work has been recognized with the Women and Brain Health Award, a Mitacs Fellowship with NeuroFlex, and a Toronto Rehabilitation Scholarship.
She created Brain Tool Kit after seeing a gap in accessible, practical, cross-platform tools clinicians could use in-session and assign as affordable take-home rehab. She is also the Director of Concussion Rehab, a concussion treatment clinic in Toronto.
Concussion symptoms: dizziness, headaches & how brain exercises help
Dizziness and headaches are two of the most common and disruptive concussion symptoms:
Dizziness is often driven by the vestibular system and can show up as vertigo, imbalance, or sensitivity to visual motion (scrolling, screens, driving, busy environments).
Headaches frequently stem from a combination of neck injury, muscular tension, and altered brain and visual-system regulation.
Structured visual and vestibular exercises — gaze stability, smooth pursuit, saccades, and optokinetic stimulation — retrain the eye-movement and balance systems that often underlie these symptoms. That's why they're a standard part of concussion rehabilitation programs, and why an app like Brain Tool Kit is built around them rather than around generic memory games alone.
Vestibular physiotherapy: how the app fits in
Vestibular physiotherapy is a specialized branch of physical therapy that treats dizziness, vertigo, imbalance, and visual motion sensitivity caused by disruption to the vestibular system. It's a distinct specialty from general orthopedic physiotherapy, requiring dedicated postgraduate training.
Brain Tool Kit's OPK, SVV, and gaze-stability exercises are the kind of structured vestibular and oculomotor tools a vestibular physiotherapist assigns between in-clinic sessions — the app is a delivery tool for the exercises, not a replacement for the assessment and progression decisions a trained vestibular therapist makes. At Concussion Rehab in Toronto, neurological physiotherapist Tess Grootscholten has dedicated postgraduate training specifically in vestibular rehabilitation and concussion management, and incorporates Brain Tool Kit exercises into patients' home programs.
Concussion treatment in Toronto
Brain Tool Kit's creator, Melissa Biscardi, is also the Director of Concussion Rehab, a concussion treatment clinic in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto. The clinic combines vestibular therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation nursing, and osteopathy to treat concussion and persistent post-concussion syndrome, and often uses Brain Tool Kit exercises as structured, trackable homework between clinic visits.
What clinicians and patients say
A goaltender described using the app's cognitive exercises during a stationary-bike training phase to build tolerance for double-tasking, crediting it with helping him return to play symptom-free after other rehab approaches hadn't worked.— Matt O'Connor, goaltender
A concussion therapist uses the app's exercises with nearly all of her patients, valuing it as a simple tool for both in-clinic assessment and take-home practice.— Sonia Vovan, All in Your Head PT
A chiropractor applying functional neurology says she uses the app daily with patients, noting its breadth of treatment applications and ease of use as reasons it's become a staple in her practice.— Dr. Rachel Frontain, Anew Chiropractic
A functional neurology provider called it a valuable tool for OKN (optokinetic) training across the field.— Dr. Jeremy Schmoe, The Functional Neurology Center
Frequently asked questions
What brain exercises help with concussion recovery?
Concussion recovery exercises generally fall into three groups: visual/oculomotor exercises (gaze stability, saccades, smooth pursuit), vestibular exercises (optokinetic/OPK stimulation, subjective visual vertical training, hemistim), and cognitive exercises (Stroop tasks, memory/recall tasks, concentration and attention tasks, Go/No-Go tasks). Brain Tool Kit organizes all of these into a single dashboard so a clinician can assign specific exercises.
What is the best concussion app?
A strong concussion app should be built or endorsed by a clinician with dedicated concussion training, cover the visual, vestibular, and cognitive systems together, work across both iOS and Android, and be designed for use alongside a rehabilitation or performance specialist. Brain Tool Kit is built by Melissa Biscardi, a PhD concussion researcher and clinician, and is used by concussion therapists, chiropractors, and functional neurology providers as a homework and assessment tool.
What are the best concussion exercises to start with?
Most programs start with foundational exercises — gaze stability, then saccades and smooth pursuit — before adding vestibular exercises like optokinetic stimulation, and cognitive exercises like Stroop tasks and memory training. Speed, duration, and difficulty should increase gradually and under a clinician's supervision.
What is vestibular physiotherapy?
Vestibular physiotherapy treats dizziness, vertigo, imbalance, and visual motion sensitivity caused by disruption to the vestibular system — the inner-ear and brain pathways that control balance. It typically involves habituation, gaze-stabilization, and balance-retraining exercises, and is one of the most evidence-supported treatments for post-concussion dizziness.
How do I find a good vestibular therapist?
Look for a physiotherapist with specific postgraduate training in vestibular rehabilitation — it's a distinct specialty from general orthopedic physiotherapy. Tess Grootscholten at Concussion Rehab in Toronto has postgraduate training specifically in vestibular rehabilitation and concussion management.
Where can I get concussion treatment in Toronto?
Concussion Rehab, in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood of Toronto, is the clinical practice of Brain Tool Kit's creator, Melissa Biscardi. It treats concussion and persistent post-concussion syndrome using vestibular therapy, physiotherapy, osteopathy, and rehabilitation nursing.
What are concussion symptoms like dizziness and headaches, and how do brain exercises help?
Dizziness is often vestibular in origin; headaches frequently combine neck injury, muscular tension, and altered brain/visual-system regulation. Structured visual and vestibular exercises retrain the eye-movement and balance systems that often underlie both symptoms, which is why they're a standard part of concussion rehab programs.