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What Happens When You Have a Concussion? - Coggle Diagram
What Happens When You Have a Concussion?
US, players of sports & recreational activities receive 2.5 - 4m concussions
How brain responds when sth strikes it
↑ spindly structure makes them very fragile (neurons stretch and tear when impacted)
Two impacts
Disrupts ability to communicate
Destroyed axons release toxins as degenerating, causing the death of other neurons
Brain's tissue isn't uniform (made of 90 billion neurons, send signals through axons to communicate & control our bodies)
This combination of events causes concussion
Sudden jolt → shift & bump against the skull's hard interior
Brain = made of soft fatty jello-like tissue, usually well- shielded by protective membranes & skull
Possible Damages of Concussion
Headache
Blurry vision
Blackout
Balance problems
Altered mood & behavior
Memory, thinking, & sleeping problems
Onset of anxiety and depression
Vary since every brain is different
How to Help Heal a Concussion
Lots of rest & a gradual return to activity
Misunderstanding
Not supposed to sleep shortly after receiving a concussion, might slip into a coma
If doctors don't think there's a severe brain injury (e.g., brain bleed), no documented problem with sleeping after concussion
Post - Concussion Syndrome (PCS)
Trying to play through a concussion / returning to sports too soon after a concussion = more likely to develop PCS
May experience constant headaches, learning difficulties, behavioral symptoms
Sub-concussive Impacts
Doesn't cause noticeable symptoms right away, can lead to severe degenerative brain diseases over time if repeat
Example
Soccer players known for repeatedly heading soccer balls
Find out the effect using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (allow scientists to find large axon bundles & see how milder blows might alter them structurally)
Study
2013, discovered athletes who headed the ball most (about 1,800 times/year) damaged the structural integrity of their axon bundles
↑ similar to how rope fail when individual fibers start to fray
↑ players also performed worse on short-term memory tests, so even though no one suffered full-blown concussions, these sub-concussive hits added up to measurable damage over time
Can be hard to diagnose since the symptoms unfold slowly over time
Result from lower impact jolts to the head than those that cause concussions
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
Suffer from mood & behavior changes begin appearing in 30s / 40s followed by thinking & memory problems that can result in dementia
Culprit = tau (protein)
Usually support microtubules (tiny tubes inside axons)
Repeated sub-concussive hits damage microtubules, causing tau proteins to dislodge & clump together
↑ disrupt transport & communication along the neuron, drive the breakdown of connections within the brain
Tau clumps cause more clumps to form & continue to spread throughout the brain even after head impacts have stopped
Degenerative brain disease linked to overload of sub-concussive hits
Data Analysis
Two reasons
It's hard to tell a concussion has occurred in the first place
Pressure or a desire to keep going despite the fact that something's wrong
At least among football players, 50 - 80% of concussions go unreported & untreated