I’ve been playing soccer since I was about five years old, and it was not until college that I experienced someone on the field get a concussion. I had always known about how they occur, and had even seen football players get concussions in high school. But I had never really known what sort of effects a concussion had on someone, nor did I really understand what concussions did to the brain until I read the scientific article The Molecular Pathophysiology of Concussive Brain Injury. I always pictured a concussion sort of like the crash dummy shown in some of the car commercials. Once you get hit, your brain sort of rocks really hard and takes a beating. But there is much more going on than just a shaken up brain.
In contact sports such as boxing, football, soccer, and hockey, concussions are quite common. When a player suffers from a concussion, the brain is hit so hard that it sort of sends everything into overdrive. The concussion causes the brain to initiate unwanted action potentials that cause an increased release of glutamate, the brains main excitatory neurotransmitter. There is also a potassium efflux, which leads to an increase in membrane pumping in the neuron. The increase in glutamate causes hyperglycolysis, and leads to the accumulation of lactate in the brain. The reason hyperglycolysis occurs is due to the brain’s ability to try and fix itself from having too much glutamate released at one time. Calcium sequestration also occurs along with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation. These occur due to the calcium influx that occurs at the same time as glutamate rushes into the neuron. Due to the mitochondrial dysfunction there is a decrease in ATP, the cell’s energy source. Lastly, due to the imbalance of calcium, glutamate, lactate and other ions within the cell, enzymes are activated that initiate apoptosis (cell death). Symptoms include headaches, nausea, dizziness, some memory loss, and even vomiting (depending on the severity of the concussion).
Although this may sound like there isn’t much to be done, measures are being taken to help protect those in contact sports from suffering from a concussion. Increased padding in helmets, head bands, and padded gloves are being required in most contact sports. This is certainly necessary since too many concussions can lead to neurodegenerative disorders such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and dementia. CTE can also lead to other disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease.
But since contact sports are so popular, it is very unlikely that we will be able to completely prevent concussions from happening. Sometimes concussions may also happen just from falling down and hitting one’s head, or getting hit by an extremely hard snowball! So then, what is the best way to treat a concussion? A lot of rest! Doctors say that a lot of rest and little activity that could further your concussion is the best way to treat it. The severity of the concussion determines how long it may take for you to be completely recovered. So if you ever get hit a little too hard in the head, it is best to pop in your favorite trilogy (I would suggest Lord of the Rings), and sit back and relax.
Crash Course on Concussions
