Science is Fun Fridays!

 

With the return of football, let's address CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy. 

A recent study shows that early-life concussions are linked with faster cognitive decline.

The point being, "even people with traumatic brain injuries in earlier life who appear to have fully recovered from them may still be at increased risk," says author, Marianne Chanti-Ketterl, PhD, MSPH.

They used twin participants and found that those injured post age 24 demonstrated pronounced cognitive decline in thinking and memory tests compared to twins without TBI.

CTE is more than cognitive impairment though, there are also behavioral and motor symptoms as well.  The damage of repeated concussions can cause the death of nerve cells.  At this time though, it can only be diagnosed upon autopsy.

I dislike football, and I honestly think the more we "protected" the players, the rougher they felt capable of being - the aggression has been cultivated.  I also dislike the way it cuts into the baseball season and dominates the TV.  :-P