It is a Saturday afternoon in October, and across the country fans and athletes are gearing up (both literally and figuratively) to watch or play an exciting game of football. I am in a coffee shop, as a blogger should be, spending my time thinking about the effects of sports, like football, on the brain. This past week, my neurochemistry class read an article about the neuroscience of concussions. It brought up an almost endless amount of both ethical and cultural questions concerning the education, prevention, and treatment of concussions in relation to large and culturally significant sports like football. But most importantly, we came to the conclusion that the brain, much like an angst-filled teenager, is highly misunderstood. Because of this, the answers to the diverse questions about concussions are very difficult to answer.
However, it is important to understand the questions surrounding the topic because they help bring awareness to the importance of effective treatment and the management of concussions. Furthermore, by understanding the questions, one is able to remain involved and inquisitive about the discoveries that are constantly being made in the field of neurochemistry and brain injuries.
A few of the topics currently being researched include:
- Defining and quantifying concussions and concussion symptoms
By being able to quantify and define the severity of a concussion, both treatment and management practices will be more specific to each individual and their injury. It will also allow for a better understanding of how long it takes the brain to heal and how long a person should rest during recovery.
2. Subconcussions and their potential neurological effects
It is known that a concussion does damage to the brain and requires time to heal. Further research is needed in the area of subconcussions because little is known about the damage that builds after several less serious hits to the head. It is also important to investigate the effects of different injury intervals on brain damage and recovery time.
3. The long-term effects following injury
Extensive knowledge has been gained just recently as more is learned about sports related injuries in aging players. CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) has been noted in players as they enter their 40s. Symptoms include those similar to that of Alzheimer’s Disease, and it is being realized that concussions are serious injuries with symptoms that can extend throughout a lifetime. More investigation is being made in this area to determine the extent of the long-lasting effects of concussions.
4. How to restore normal cellular physiology after head impacts
It is important to understand what happens to the brain during a concussion, but it is even more imperative to figure out the most efficient and beneficial way to restore the brain after an injury. Researchers are looking into brain plasticity and reorganization as well as the amount of time necessary to heal the brain.
While these are just a few of the almost infinite amount of questions in the area of concussions and the brain, they act as a general list of the largest areas of research. Many brain imaging techniques are being developed and more is learned every day about the brain. While football and concussions will seemingly be around forever, the way in which the injuries are handled is sure to change in the upcoming years.
Visit this link to read the article referred to in this post:
https://moodle.cord.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=234260
