A cavalry of sorts can come to the rescue of combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new study says. Combat veterans who regularly care for horses experience an easing of their PTSD symptoms, as well as an overall improved mental outlook, researchers found. Focusing on a horse’s welfare can help a veteran shed the hypervigilance that often accompanies PTSD, explained researcher Andrea Quinn, assistant director of the Center for Psychological Services in the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.

At what he calls the lowest point in his life, Coast Guard veteran Jorel Wester went to a sandwich shop for what he thought would be his last meal. “I was sitting in my car in the parking lot and I had this pistol in my lap and I was like, this is the moment," he told NPR. "I went to grab a drink and on the side of the cup, it had this advertisement for K9s for Warriors, saying they help pair veterans with service dogs for PTSD. I’m like well, I’m going to give them a call and if somebody answers, I’m going to tell them what’s happening.”

Light therapy could help people recover from major brain injuries, suggests a new study. Low-level light therapy appears to improve healing in the brains of people who suffered significant injury, say scientists. They believe it may also assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and autism. Lights of different wavelengths have been studied for years for their wound-healing properties.

Football's governing body FIFA and the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday launched a global concussion awareness initiative developed with brain health experts. The "Suspect and Protect: No Match is Worth the Risk" scheme aims to highlight the risks of traumatic brain injury and offer resources on the subject, they said in a joint statement.

Doctors are worried a combat sport called slap fighting, watched by millions online and gaining in popularity, is causing serious brain damage. Competitors face off and take turns to deliver bare, full-force, open-handed strikes to the cheek. To assess the possible harm, medics screened videos of tournaments and have now written a warning letter in a leading journal, JAMA Surgery, about their findings. Unlike boxing, no head gear is allowed and defenders cannot duck to avoid blows. Even flinching is banned.

Concerns about the long-term impacts of concussion and head injury have become prominent in recent years, particularly among participants and stakeholders of contact and collision sports. Many people have been left wondering about the risk of head injury in sport and whether it is safe to continue to play. People are especially worried about what is commonly known as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). A 2022 publication claimed repetitive head impacts in contact and collision sports were the cause of CTE.

It was a routine run for a first down, the kind that quarterbacks do every week in the National Football League. But Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins leaned headfirst into the tackle, and the impact against the defender's chest sent his head sharply to the left. Afterward, he collapsed to the ground, with his right fist balled and raised into the air in what appeared to be a telltale sign of brain injury.

Now that the N.F.L. season has begun, you may have noticed football players wearing a strange sort of cover over their helmets. It’s called a Guardian Cap, and it adds a layer of foam to the outside of the helmet, with the aim of reducing brain injuries. N.F.L. players have worn the caps during summer practice for the past few years, but this is the first season the league is allowing them in games. A handful of players wore them during the opening weekend. The company behind the caps, Guardian Sports, says they reduce the force of the impact when a player’s head is hit. But what does that mean? And do they protect against concussions?

Michael Kahana, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist, has been studying memory for over 30 years: how it works, and what’s going on when it doesn’t. He’s not just fascinated with memory loss caused by traumatic brain injury — which affects more than 5 million people in this country — or the nearly 7 million Americans with Alzheimer’s. His research has also focused on the memory lapses that impact everyone, regardless of their cognitive health.

A study released Thursday found post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is on the rise among college students.  The research found PTSD increased 4.1 percentage points over five years, going from 3.4 percent of students in the 2017-18 school year to 7.5 percent in the 2021-22 academic year.  The analysis conducted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham suggested possible stressors that could have triggered PTSD in students, such as losing loved ones during the pandemic, campus shootings and racial trauma.