Concussions & Sports

Phil proctored an exam, the most exciting aspect of grad school, and passes on a few tips that he feels will help everyone in the room. Matt fueled up on some spring rolls before attending the most competitive used book sale of his life, you can hear the giddiness in his voice which qualifies him for at least 9 criteria of bibliophilic personality disorder. They finish by again trying to define their podcast and Matt struggles to not say ABSOLUTELY, in whimsical fashion.

Concussions and sports (14:28):

Phil has had concussions. Matt introduced us to his research and his own concussion history, which dates back to 1997, as a way of starting a conversation about stigma, gender and the shifting cultural perceptions of concussion and sports. Phil and Matt then got into the articles, starting with one about the writer's experiences witnessing her brother recover from multiple concussions while playing in the WHL. Matt and Phil deep dive into medical and social science perspectives on concussions. Phil floats some statistics around while Matt argues that women’s concussions (especially female teenage athletes) continues to be understudied, underreported and underappreciated due to the prevailing cultural and social assumptions around female athletics.

Matt and Phil then watch some clips about the NHL and concussions (54:25). They saw a video montage of Eric Lindros’ concussions, talked a bit about Sidney Crosby and how perceptions changed over time and finish with the (in?)infamous Canadian hockey commentator Don Cherry calling out players and the ‘new NHL’ for being ‘soft’.

After watching they return and talk about the Aaron Hernandez story. Matt brings in some neurophysiology: Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI), hormonal disruptions, causes of dementia and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). CTE often gets mentioned alongside stories about ex-athletes who donate their brains to science (Boston U also has a donation program). CTE seems to be caused by DAI where the Axon, which is the middle section of the nerve cell, ‘shears’ causing a ‘damaged pathway’. Due to ‘neuro-plasticity’ the brain will re-route information along new or previously existing pathways, however the pre-existing ones get overloaded causing symptoms like cognitive fatigue or communication impairments and the damaged (non-used) pathway builds up a protein which has been linked to various neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s, Dementia and CTE. It’s intense but stuff we need to remember about our noggins.

Links:

• Emilie Medland-Marchen "Alone in the dark: The effects of concussions on Canada's greatest game" (appeared in the Gaunlet, April 25, 2017)

• Max Kutner "The Aaron Hernandez suicide: A football brain injury link?"

• Brain Injury Canada list-serv: http://multibriefs.com/optin.php?BIAC

• Reuters "Sport-related concussions more common in high school girls"

Recommendations (1:08:54):

Phil brought up a musical group that Matt hasn’t heard or thought about in years. Yes it’s the return of BONOBO! Where is my adult soother and glow sticks, Matt thinks?? (You just know we hung onto my giant cargo pants and multi-coloured suspenders, don’t you?!?). But seriously, it’s great music that you can study to, read to, dance to or do whatever you do.

Matt recommended the comedic-history podcast called The Dollop. Anyone who knows him has had this podcast recommended to them at least once. Because there are hundreds of episodes (and a forthcoming book, free plug!) Matt narrowed it down a bit: Ep. 150-James Sullivan and the 1904 Olympic Games and Ep. 250-Phantom of the Open. Matt also recommends the episode on the Iraq War.

Concluding thought: all our heads are actually quite soft. 

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Music: Song "Soul Challenger" appearing on "Cullahnary School" by Cullah  Available at: http://www.cullah.com  Under CC BY SA license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/