Concussions and Damage to Young Brains

Embedded below is a video from ESPN's E:60 show about a popular high school athlete who experienced a second concussion before the first one was healed. The damage to his brain and body are expertly shown, including a photo of when he had to have part of his skull removed in order to help deal with the swelling of his damaged brain. If you have not seen it, it is quite powerful as it shows both before, the event, and his recovery and rehabilitation afterward. 

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

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Concussions, Brain Injury and Athletes

The Sports Legacy Institute is the organization whose research has been the focus of recent reports on CNN and 60 Minutes. The site includes media information and self-promotion, but there are also videos and research overviews about traumatic brain injuries. There are videos for parents, coaches and athletes about the risks and dangers of brain injuries as well as classroom resources for further investigation.

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Concussions and Neural Encephalopathy

One question my students always have is, "what is a concussion?" and "why do they have to stay awake?" after experiencing one. Over the past couple years, I have found these resources.

Last year, Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN interviewed the same researcher and had a two-part story about concussions and traumatic brain injury. These links have both text-based and video-based stories.

Part 1: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/26/athlete.brains/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Part 2: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/01/29/am.gupta.athletes.concussions.cnn?iref=videosearch

From the Neuroscience for Kids website:

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/conknow.html

This link has some good, basic information about concussions:

http://kidshealth.org/teen/safety/first_aid/concussions.html

This past weekend, 60 Minutes aired an episode that dealt with concussions and traumatic brain injuries that athletes suffer. A preview to that story can be found here: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/?pid=JTx0jMslQp27eXB8GAqp8_Bm761b4H75

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