http://www.brainline.org/rss/news.xml This is the BrainLine RSS feed for the latest news pertaining to preventing, treating, and living with traumatic brain injury. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:43:56 EST en-us http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/super-bowl-2012-football-coaches-and-players-need-to-get-health-issues-through-their-heads/2012/01/31/gIQAbnPziQ_story.html Each time BenJarvus Green-Ellis lines up behind Tom Brady in Sunday’s Super Bowl, the Patriots running back will fasten a special chin strap to his helmet, featuring an impact indicator designed to help detect the probability of concussions. During a commercial break, television viewers will be shown a promotional message from the NFL touting the advances the league has made in player safety. Without question, the NFL has made health issues a higher priority in recent years. Commissioner Roger Goodell has earned genuine respect for what he has done to protect players in both the short and long term. Equipment is better. Rules are stricter — and they’re more stringently enforced. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/super-bowl-2012-football-coaches-and-players-need-to-get-health-issues-through-their-heads/2012/01/31/gIQAbnPziQ_story.html The Washington Post http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/02/02/146290847/computerized-tests-for-concussions-may-be-unreliable Schools worried about concussions increasingly use computerized tests to tell if a student athlete has a brain injury. But new research says those tests aren't reliable enough to diagnose concussion, or to tell if it's safe to return to play. The researchers looked at research on one computerized neuropsychologist test, called ImPACT, that is widely used by colleges and high schools. (Here's one NPR story on how high schools use ImPACT to assess concussions.) It's also used by the National Football League and National Hockey League. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/02/02/146290847/computerized-tests-for-concussions-may-be-unreliable National Public Radio http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-02/sports/31018014_1_concussion-head-injuries-john-mara The helmet-to-helmet shot knocked Tony Dorsett out cold in the second quarter of a 1984 Cowboys-Eagles game, the hardest hit he ever took during his Hall of Fame NFL career. "It was like a freight train hitting a Volkswagen," Dorsett says now. "Did they know it was a concussion?" he asks rhetorically during an interview with The Associated Press. "They thought I was half-dead." Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-02/sports/31018014_1_concussion-head-injuries-john-mara The Boston Globe http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120202/nhl-concussions-insurance-120202/20120202/?hub=OttawaHome With the number of concussions growing in the National Hockey League, insurance companies are considering throwing the financial burden back on the league's teams. More than 60 NHL players are sidelined with head injuries this season including Pittsburgh Penguin captain Sidney Crosby. Now insurance companies specializing in sports say that the league's 30 teams will have to absorb the risk of million-dollar contracts alone as the number of players sidelined increases. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120202/nhl-concussions-insurance-120202/20120202/?hub=OttawaHome CTV-Ottawa http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/mind-reading-breakthrough_n_1246752.html Scientists already know how to see into your mind's eye, and now they can hear the voices in your head. In a new paper published in PLoS Biology, researchers present evidence showing that they can track the brain activity of a person listening to spoken words and use it to reconstruct the words. Has Big Brother arrived? Not quite. The University of California, Berkeley scientists behind the study didn't actually read minds. They only "eavesdropped" on words that subjects were actually hearing. But it may not be so hard to apply the research to words we imagine. "There is some evidence that hearing the sound and imagining the sound activate similar areas of the brain," said study co-author Brian N. Pasley, a post-doctoral researcher at the university. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/01/mind-reading-breakthrough_n_1246752.html The Huffington Post http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/iteam/2012/02/lawyers-assert-nfl-needs-to-do-more-to-address-needs-of-players-who-suffer-concussions As the New York Giants and the New England Patriots prepare for their Super Bowl showdown amid great hype and fanfare, another battle is being waged off the field which is not spoken about all that publicly. While the National Football League's management of traumatic brain injuries has been duplicitous at best, the current groundswell of class-action lawsuits will neither provide essential assistance for brain damaged players nor protect those on the field.   They do not redress the league's deliberate misconduct denying players' contract disability benefits, but rather aim to penalize the league for morally reprehensible conduct - failing to design safe concussion management protocol. Failure to acknowledge scientific evidence and institute proper return-to-play protocol is not equivalent to legal liability. The failure to fulfill the terms of a guaranteed benefit plan, however, does expose the league to liability. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/iteam/2012/02/lawyers-assert-nfl-needs-to-do-more-to-address-needs-of-players-who-suffer-concussions New York Dailly News http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66998 The Defense Department and the Army said goodbye today to a general known for his leadership and his innovation, but who may be best remembered for his focus on advancing brain injury treatment and mental health care. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were among hundreds who gathered today at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall’s Summerall Field to celebrate the career of Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, as he retired following 40 years of service. As the son of a World War II Silver Star recipient, Chiarelli “exemplified the values of his father: of patriotism, of courage, of resilience, of dedication,” the secretary said. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66998 US Department of Defense http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/sidney-crosby-had-neck-injury-in-addition-to-concussion/2012/01/31/gIQA2zEHfQ_blog.html An independent specialist contacted to review recent medical tests taken on Sidney Crosby found no evidence of a past or present neck fracture but verified that Crosby is suffering from a soft-tissue injury of the neck, that could be causing neurological symptoms.... Dr. Robert S. Bray has treated Crosby with an injection to alleviate swelling in the C1-2 joint of the neck and will be overseeing his progression with therapists. Doctors say the symptoms of a soft-tissue neck injury are similar to concussion symptoms. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/sidney-crosby-had-neck-injury-in-addition-to-concussion/2012/01/31/gIQA2zEHfQ_blog.html The Washington Post http://www.propublica.org/article/one-soldiers-progress-against-traumatic-brain-injury When Army Sgt. Victor Medina returned home from Iraq in the summer of 2009, his life was a shambles. His tour had been cut short after he suffered a concussion during a roadside blast. Though his injury wasn't visible, he struggled with balance and noticed that his ability to read, think and even talk had changed for the worse. But in the spring of 2011, Medina became one of the first patients at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, the military's $65 million, state-of-the-art treatment center for brain-injured soldiers. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.propublica.org/article/one-soldiers-progress-against-traumatic-brain-injury ProPublica http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/sports/football/nfl-to-address-head-injuries-in-commercial.html?ref=sports To the usual lineup of beer and car commercials on Super Bowl Sunday, add this: one about player safety. For the first time, the N.F.L., currently the target of more than a dozen lawsuits accusing it of deliberately concealing information about the effects on players of repeated hits to the head, will use one minute of its own commercial time during its signature event to address player safety, its most critical and sobering problem. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/sports/football/nfl-to-address-head-injuries-in-commercial.html?ref=sports The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/us/for-soldier-disfigured-in-afghanistan-a-way-to-return-to-the-world.html?_r=1&hp Specialist Joey Paulk awoke from a coma in a Texas hospital three weeks after he was burned nearly to death in Afghanistan. Wrapped in bandages from head almost to toe, he immediately saw his girlfriend and mother, and felt comforted. Then he glanced at his hands, two balls of white gauze, and realized that he had no fingers. So it began: the shock of recognition. Next came what burn doctors call “the mirror test.” As he was shuffling through a hallway at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, he passed a large mirror that he had turned away from before. This time he steeled himself and looked. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/31/us/for-soldier-disfigured-in-afghanistan-a-way-to-return-to-the-world.html?_r=1&hp The New York Times http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577192901072611524.html Research into how iron, copper, zinc and other metals work in the brain may help unlock some of the secrets of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Iron and copper appear to accumulate beyond normal levels in the brains of people with these diseases, and a new, Australian study published Sunday shows reducing excess iron in the brain can alleviate Alzheimer's-like symptoms—at least in mice. A genetic mutation related to regulating iron is linked to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Zinc, on the other hand, appears to impair memory if its levels get too low or if it gets into a brain region where it doesn't belong, as it can with traumatic brain injury. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577192901072611524.html The Wall Street Journal http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/27/2966003/cnn-documentary-looksat-nc-prep.html Greenville Rose High runner Jaquan Waller ran into the line during a football game against Wilmington Hoggard in 2008 and was tackled. The hit was not excessively hard. It looks totally benign when seen on film. The play was one of football's most basic and the tackle would not have been noteworthy except for the consequences. Waller had suffered a concussion in practice two days before and returned to physical activities before his concussion had healed. The seemingly routine tackle resulted in his brain swelling and bleeding and led to his death. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/27/2966003/cnn-documentary-looksat-nc-prep.html Charlotte Observer http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0129-bears-side-hunter-hillenmeyer--20120129,0,5182633.story The NFL has created a culture, Hunter Hillenmeyer says, that conspires against protecting players. "The system they control has every incentive, for players, coaches, trainers, equipment managers and even some doctors, aligned to keep players on the field and injuries, especially concussions, as downplayed as possible," said Hillenmeyer, the former Bears linebacker. Rule changes have been designed to reduce blows to the head and protocol for players who have suffered head injuries has changed significantly in just the last three years. But the last thing players want is to be labeled as prone to concussions. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0129-bears-side-hunter-hillenmeyer--20120129,0,5182633.story Chicago Tribune http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Concussions+must+recognized+treated+appropriately+pediatricians/6055733/story.html Parents and doctors need to treat concussions for what they are — brain injuries with potentially catastrophic consequences, the nation's pediatricians are warning. In a new position statement, the Canadian Paediatric Society says concussions are too common in youth sports and that hits to the head, checking from behind, fighting or checking outright in younger ages groups should be eliminated. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Concussions+must+recognized+treated+appropriately+pediatricians/6055733/story.html The Montreal Gazette