Neuro Note #3

For my third neuro note, I watched a TED Talk on post-concussion syndrome and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The talk was given by Chris Nowinski, titled Can I have your brain? The quest for truth on concussions and CTE. Nowinski is a former Harvard football player as well as a former WWE performer. During both of these high-impact sport careers, Nowinski experienced multiple concussions and was diagnosed with permanent post-concussion symptoms. This lead to the end of his athletic career but the beginning of his scientific journey to learn all he can about CTE and to share it with the world.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease caused by reoccurring brain trauma. A brain with CTE forms Tau protein clumps throughout the brain which kill living brain cells. Not surprisingly, CTE is most commonly found in athletes and military veterans, due to repetitive brain trauma. CTE is commonly referred to as “punch drunk” because boxers often experienced symptoms after being hit in the head during a match. Symptoms of CTE include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgement and progressive dementia. These symptoms lead to mood and behavior changes, sometimes leading to suicide.

Chris Nowinski started the Concussion Legacy Foundation, the first center focused on CTE. They started the first ever brain bank – a “bank” of brains dedicated to CTE research. They also started a brain donation registry for athletes to publically pledge to donate brains to science. So far, over 2,5000 athletes have registered. While there is no way to detect CTE in a living person, Nowinski reminds us that we can prevent it – if we stop hitting ourselves in the head!

CTE and post-concussion syndrome are personal to me because I have known multiple individuals who I believe have experienced too many hits to the head. Specifically, my high school football team. I was very close to many of the players, my best friend being one of the captains, a running back. Particularly in his position, he was taught to dodge and dive through small openings between defensive players, often leading to hits in the head. On multiple occasions, I saw his helmet break loose and roll across the field after a tackle. It seemed like every other week, he was diagnosed with a concussion, given a day off, and then put right back into practice.

He was naturally short-tempered, impulsive, and easily distracted. Or at least at the time, I believed these were natural qualities of his personality. Now, after our neuro aspects class and after watching this TED Talk, I am more inclined to believe that these behaviors were directly linked to repeated blows to the head.  While I find this topic very interesting, I also look back at those teenage boys on our football team, risking their health, damaging their brains, and affecting the rest of their lives without knowing it. I am glad that this topic is getting more public awareness and that individuals like Chris Nowinski and the Concussion Legacy Foundation are making steps towards studying and preventing post-concussion syndrome and CTE. Click on the link below for more information

Concussion Legacy Foundation website:

https://concussionfoundation.org/

References:

Concussion Legacy Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved May 23, 2018, from https://concussionfoundation.org/

Nowinski, C. (2017, November). Chris Nowinski: Can I have your brain? The quest for truth on concussions and CTE. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/