Common sense has led many to believe that youth football players can't possibly sustain high-impact like their adult counterparts. But researchers at Virginia Tech (VT) recently turned that theory upside down when they analyzed impact data from the helmets of 7- and 8-year old players in Montgomery County, Virginia. Accelerometers placed inside seven helmets wirelessly transmitted data to scientists on the sideline for a season's worth of practices and games, with surprising results. The bottom line? Maybe it's time to take another look at practices, drills, and helmet design to minimize the forces absorbed during an average season. Regardless of the significance of the impact, none of the players sustained concussions during the season. Therein lies an enduring mystery, why small impacts can cause concussions in some players while others walk away from big hits. The force of acceleration is often measured in g's. Fighter pilots may "pull" nine g in an F-16, a sneeze may register 3 g. They're part of everyday life. But because of the heightened interest in sports-related concussion in particular, researchers are looking at a multitude of ways to reduce brain impacts for everyone from adults to youth. First, they had to identify if there was even an issue at all. Worth a look The VT study was the first of its kind to measure the impacts sustained during youth football. Having worked for nine years recording over 150,000 hits with the helmet impact system at the university, researchers turned their attention to an area youth league. The forces averaged about 15g's, meaning half of the hits measured below that level, the other half above. In one case, well above. One hit measured 100g's, a big hit by college standards. Most of the more forceful impacts came during practice. Highlights from PBS NewsHour include: reseachers believe 98g or above is a red flag for a possible concussion a total 753 impacts were recorded average player sustained 107 impacts in one season; high school players average about 500; college players sustain about 1,000/season there were 38 impacts of 40g's or greater; almost every one occurred during practice six impacts measured over 80g's the lower range of what they consider to be the risk of concussion youth football players lack strong neck and chest muscles of older players to maintain head stability 50, 60, 70g loads were surprising location of impact is important as are individual differences and tolerances there is more helmet-to-helmet contact in youth football that occurs less frequently in older players; most impacts occurred on the front of shell (helmet) more head-to-ground impacts found at college level Changes afoot Researchers concluded that addressing changes in practice would likely reduce the number of impacts per season, an important factor in any youth sport. Less contact drills, fewer contact practices and other modifications would be beneficial, particularly as the affect of sub-concussive hits, impacts that may cause changes in the brain without causing symptoms, continues to be studied. Source: Pint-Size Footbal Players Take Big-League Hits -- PBS Newshour -- April 3, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at jean@SportsConcussions.org

The brain appears to be wired more like the checkerboard streets of New York City than the curvy lanes of Columbia, Md., suggests a new brain imaging study. The most detailed images, to date, reveal a pervasive 3D grid structure with no diagonals, say scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health. “Far from being just a tangle of wires, the brain’s connections turn out to be more like ribbon cables -- folding 2D sheets of parallel neuronal fibers that cross paths at right angles, like the warp and weft of a fabric,” explained Van Wedeen, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the Harvard Medical School. “This grid structure is continuous and consistent at all scales and across humans and other primate species." Wedeen and colleagues report new evidence of the brain’s elegant simplicity March 30, 2012 in the journal Science. The study was funded, in part, by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Human Connectome Project of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, and other NIH components. “Getting a high resolution wiring diagram of our brains is a landmark in human neuroanatomy,” said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. “This new technology may reveal individual differences in brain connections that could aid diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders.” Knowledge gained from the study helped shape design specifications for the most powerful brain scanner of its kind, which was installed at MGH’s Martinos Center last fall. The new Connectom diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner can visualize the networks of crisscrossing fibers – by which different parts of the brain communicate with each other – in 10-fold higher detail than conventional scanners, said Wedeen. “This one-of-a-kind instrument is bringing into sharper focus an astonishingly simple architecture that makes sense in light of how the brain grows,” he explained. “The wiring of the mature brain appears to mirror three primal pathways established in embryonic development.” As the brain gets wired up in early development, its connections form along perpendicular pathways, running horizontally, vertically and transversely. This grid structure appears to guide connectivity like lane markers on a highway, which would limit options for growing nerve fibers to change direction during development. If they can turn in just four directions: left, right, up or down, this may enforce a more efficient, orderly way for the fibers to find their proper connections – and for the structure to adapt through evolution, suggest the researchers. Obtaining detailed images of these pathways in human brain has long eluded researchers, in part, because the human cortex, or outer mantle, develops many folds, nooks and crannies that obscure the structure of its connections. Although studies using chemical tracers in neural tracts of animal brains yielded hints of a grid structure, such invasive techniques could not be used in humans. Wedeen’s team is part of a Human Connectome Project Harvard/MGH-UCLA consortiumExternal Link: Please review our disclaimer. that is optimizing MRI technology to more accurately to image the pathways. In diffusion imaging, the scanner detects movement of water inside the fibers to reveal their locations. A high resolution technique called diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) makes it possible to see the different orientations of multiple fibers that cross at a single location – the key to seeing the grid structure. In the current study, researchers performed DSI scans on postmortem brains of four types of monkeys – rhesus, owl, marmoset and galago – and in living humans. They saw the same 2D sheet structure containing parallel fibers crossing paths everywhere in all of the brains – even in local path neighborhoods. The grid structure of cortex pathways was continuous with those of lower brain structures, including memory and emotion centers. The more complex human and rhesus brains showed more differentiation between pathways than simpler species. Among immediate implications, the findings suggest a simplifying framework for understanding the brain’s structure, pathways and connectivity. The technology used in the current study was able to see only about 25 percent of the grid structure in human brain. It was only apparent in large central circuitry, not in outlying areas where the folding obscures it. But lessons learned were incorporated into the design of the newly installed Connectom scanner, which can see 75 percent of it, according to Wedeen. Much as a telescope with a larger mirror or lens provides a clearer image, the new scanner markedly boosts resolving power by magnifying magnetic fields with magnetically stronger copper coils, called gradients. Gradients make it possible to vary the magnetic field and get a precise fix on locations in the brain. The Connectom scanner’s gradients are seven times stronger than those of conventional scanners. Scans that would have previously taken hours – and, thus would have been impractical with living human subjects – can now be performed in minutes. “Before, we had just driving directions. Now, we have a map showing how all the highways and byways are interconnected,” said Wedeen. “Brain wiring is not like the wiring in your basement, where it just needs to connect the right endpoints. Rather, the grid is the language of the brain and wiring and re-wiring work by modifying it.” Curvature in this DSI image of a whole human brain turns out to be folding of 2D sheets of parallel neuronal fibers that cross paths at right angles. This picture came from the new Connectom scanner.Source: Van Wedeen, M.D., Martinos Center and Dept. of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University Medical School Reference Wedeen VJ, Rosene DL, Ruopeng W, Guangping D, Mortazavi F, Hagmann P, Kass JH, Tseng W-YI. The Geometric Structure of the Brain Fiber Pathways: A Continuous Orthogonal Grid. March 30, 2012 Science. ### The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure. For more information, visit the NIMH website. The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research is a cooperative effort among the NIH Office of the Director and the 15 NIH Institutes and Centers that support research on the nervous system. By pooling resources and expertise, the Blueprint supports transformative neuroscience research, and the development of new tools, training opportunities, and other resources to assist neuroscientists. About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit the NIH website. Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at jean@SportsConcussions.org

PITTSBURGH – The unpredictable nature of concussions is one of the most frustrating factors to the millions of sufferers each year, but early neurological indicators and symptoms can predict a protracted healing time in certain cases, according to specialists at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “It’s a highly variable injury with a variety of outcomes,” said Michael “Micky” Collins, Ph.D., director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program and co-investigator of the Pitt/UPMC study published in the February issue of Neurosurgery. “We see some patients who take a day or two to recover, and some who take a year or longer to recover. If clinicians had a way of determining within two days of injury who’s going to take a month or longer to recover, that’s a very important piece of information to have. It’s a game-changer.” The study, one of the first to examine concussion prognoses, showed that specific neurocognitive “cut-off” scores derived from ImPACT™ (Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) improved clinicians’ ability to predict which sports-related concussions could take longer –- as much as five times longer -- to rehabilitate than others. They found, in as many as 85 percent of the cases, the scores could warn athletes, parents, coaches, schools, teams and health professionals when a concussion is likely to take on average a month to heal. Such an objective prognosis could help clinicians to better prepare a treatment plan, arrange academic accommodations for students and set tangible expectations for return to play and school, Dr. Collins said. The study reviewed 108 high-school football players who were given ImPACT tests within a median of two days after their concussions. Fifty boys experienced a recovery lasting, on average, 33 days before returning to play, and those longer rehabilitations could be forecast by specific “cut-off” scores in ImPACT Visual and Processing Speed testing. Migraine and cognitive symptoms also appeared to have predictive power. Study participants who scored above the threshold levels recovered within a median of seven days. “We’ve established statistical ‘cut-offs’ that indicate people who take a month or longer to recover,” Dr. Collins said. “Eighty percent of concussed people recover inside of three weeks. This prognostic information allows us to develop a risk profile of athletes who don’t recover well from this injury. Other study authors include Brian Lau, B.S., from the Pitt School of Medicine, and Mark Lovell, Ph.D., the Concussion Program’s founding director who retired from UPMC last summer. About UPMC Sports Medicine Cohttps://n Program The first-of-its-kind UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, established in 2000, is the largest multi-disciplinary clinical and research program that focuses on the diagnosis, evaluation and management of sports-related concussion in athletes of all levels. The UPMC clinicians and researchers treat more than 13,000 patients a year, and published more than 75 clinical research studies in peer-reviewed scientific journals. About ImPACT ImPACT™ (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) is an independently validated and researched concussion-evaluation system that has become the most widely used in the United States. Co-founded in the early 1990s by Drs. Mark Lovell, Joseph Maroon and Michael “Micky” Collins, who have a proprietary interest in ImPACT Applications, Inc., ImPACT is a 20-minute test that is a standard tool used as part of comprehensive clinical concussion management adopted across the NFL, NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball, college and high-school athletics -- with roughly 3 million people tested. Source: UPMC press release- https://www.upmc.com/mediarelations Photo courtesy UPMC

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed youth concussion legislation into law today at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Support for the bill came from physicians, student-athletes, the NFL's Green Bay Packers and other organizations. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has exhibited an unwavering committment to the adoption of concussion legislation nationwide, starting with the Washington state concussion law named after middle school football player Zackery Lystedt, who was injured during a game in 2006. Like the Lystedt Law, Wisconsin's concussion law calls for the removal of any athlete suspected of having suffered a concussion and requires a player to obtain written medical authorization before resuming activity. The new law also requires the state Department of Public Instruction to work in conjunction with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association to develop guidelines and education standards for parents, coaches, and athletes. Source: Walker signing bills legalizing wolf hunt, cracking down on youth concussions -- Star Tribune --April 2, 2012 Questions/comments? Contact Jean Rickerson at Jean@SportsConcussions.org

MUNCIE, Ind. -- Student-athletes will receive financial assistance to help defray the costs of baseline testing from a fund named for the late Chicago Bears' Dave Duerson who committed suicide a year ago. An autopsy revealed Duerson suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease. CTE is associated with repetitive head trauma and can affect judgement, mood, impulse control and memory. Computerized neuropsychological concussion tests, known as "baseline" tests, are typically taken by student-athletes prior to the beginning of their sports season on a computer at home, in a school computer lab or in a doctor's office. Structured similar to a computer game, a student-athlete will complete various online exercises that measure memory, reaction times and cognitive processing speeds. If an injury occurs the test is retaken and baseline scores are compared to post-injury values. The difference between the two can give trained medical professionals a look at potential issues that need further evaluation prior to clearing a student-athlete to return to activity. "The baseline testing gives everyone a free opportunity to pre-test," Central High School football coach John Hochstetler said. "The post-test comes with a fee, and that's where some of our youngsters run into challenges," according to The Star Press. The Dave Duerson Muncie Community Schools Athletic Safety Fund will assist injured athletes who can't afford the post-injury test at two middle schools and two high schools beginning with the 2012-2013 season. Duerson played football, basketball and baseball at Northside High School in Muncie, Ind. He went on to play for Notre Dame where he received All-American recognition in 1981 and 1982 before entering the NFL. Duerson played for the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He earned two Super Bowl championship rings and was selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls from 1986-1989 during his eleven-year career in the NFL. Duerson was the NFL 'Man of the Year' in 1987. Source: Duerson fund will assist Muncie athletes -- The Star Press April 1, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at Jean@SportsConcussions.org

SportsConcussions.org Named One of Constant Contact’s 2011 All Stars SportsConcussions.org recognized for achieving exemplary marketing results SEQUIM, Wash. — April 4, 2012 – SportsConcussions.org, a non-profit concussion education organization, has received the 2011 All Star Award from Constant Contact®, Inc., the trusted marketing advisor to more than half a million small organizations worldwide. Each year, a select group of Constant Contact customers are honored with the All Star Award for their exemplary marketing results. SportsConcussions.org’s results ranked among the top 10% of Constant Contact’s customer base. “We’re pleased to be recognized by Constant Contact for achieving strong marketing results, said Jean Rickerson, CEO and Founder of SportsConcussions.org. “Constant Contact’s tools have helped us reach a large audience with the all-important message regarding sports-related concussions in a very efficient way. We look forward to increasing our communication efforts even more in the coming year, to help protect more athletes. We are very grateful to all of our customers who follow us on our website, on social media and through our weekly newsletter. Our goal is to provide them with ideas and resources so they can protect athletes in their local communities.” Constant Contact looked at the following criteria to select this year’s All Stars: · Frequency of campaigns, events, and surveys · Open, bounce, and click-through rates · Event registration rates · Survey completion rates · Use of social features · Use of mailing list sign-up tools “There is nothing we like more than to see our customers finding success. It’s the reason Constant Contact was founded, and it’s a thrill to see the fantastic results that our All Stars are achieving,” said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact. “This group is really leading the charge when it comes to delivering relevant, engaging content that drives real business results. We salute this year’s All Stars for their success, and are honored to have played a part in their achievements.” About SportsConcussions.orgSportsConcussions.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about sports-related concussions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) up to 3.8 million people suffer from a recreation- or –sport related concussion each year. SportsConcussions.org is anchored by a website that is update daily, featuring news, ideas and resources for school districts, leagues, coaches, parents and athletes. The organization also holds community workshops and conferences, and establishes baseline testing programs. About Constant Contact, Inc. Constant Contact is revolutionizing the success formula for small organizations through affordable, easy-to-use Engagement MarketingTM tools that help create and grow customer relationships. More than half a million small businesses, nonprofits, and associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact to drive ongoing customer dialogs through email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online surveys. All Constant Contact products come with unrivaled KnowHow, education, and free coaching with a personal touch, including award-winning customer support.

Shepherdstown, W.V. — Senator Jay Rockefeller convened a roundtable discussion at Shepherd University's Wellness Center on Friday with medical experts, sports professionals, coaches, and parents to help raise awareness of many of the causes and impacts of concussions and head injuries in young athletes. He also highlighted problems with the marketing of some sports safety equipment which claim to prevent concussions among athletes. “We all have a responsibility to make sure that kids who play sports are as safe as they can be,” said Rockefeller. “Much of the conversation about concussions has focused on professional athletes, but it affects so many children on the field, court, mat, or track. Last October, I chaired a Senate hearing to help raise awareness about concussions in youth sports, but our job is not done. We need to make sure that everyone in West Virginia knows how to reduce the number of concussions, since they can have long-term consequences for our children’s health. “Playing sports doesn’t just make kids stronger and healthier. It also teaches them important values – hard work, leadership, and the importance of working together. I encourage everyone here today to tell their friends and family about how to better protect student athletes so that we can reduce injuries, increase awareness about some false marketing of sports equipment, and make sure our kids stay healthy.” The roundtable provided an opportunity to discuss the dangers of concussions for young athletes, the steps that parents and coaches should take to protect young athletes from concussions, and the limitations of sports equipment in preventing concussions. The discussion included medical experts from West Virginia to discuss the dangers and frequency of concussions for young athletes, sports officials from the state to explain the steps currently being taken to protect young athletes from concussions on the field, and representatives from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to discuss the role of the federal government in creating safety standards for products and investigating marketing claims made by manufacturers. On October 19, Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, held a hearing on concussions and the marketing of sports equipment to increase awareness of both the dangers of concussions for athletes participating in sports at all levels and the misleading marketing claims about concussions made by sports equipment manufacturers. Rockefeller convened the hearing because much of the discussion on concussions had largely focused on the dangers of concussions at the professional level, even though a significant percentage of those suffering concussions are children and high school students participating in sports, especially contact sports like soccer, football, and hockey. Click here to view video of the hearing Source: Senator Jay Rockefeller Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at Jean@SportsConcussions.org

Reducing the number of concussions suffered by student-athletes is on the minds of many, including those that lead some of the most prestigious universities in the nation. Soon, following in the footsteps of changes made last year to Ivy League football programs, athletes in other sports may see the adoption of more protective measures as well. Ivy League football players saw significant changes in their practices last season after the eight presidents, two of whom are medical doctors, acted to reduce the number of impacts to their student-athletes' brains in an effort to minimize concussions. In July 2011 the Ivy League Concussion Committee developed a new set of regulations limiting full-contact practices to two per week, three less than allowed by the NCAA. In addition, of the preseason "two-a-days" only one can be full contact. Similar sport-specific regulations may be applied to other activities such as lacrosse, hockey, and soccer in the near future. “We are leading other conferences,” said Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris. “I don’t know of any conference looking at this in the same manner that we are. We really see this as an area that we can be a leader in terms of the medical care safety of our athletes as well as in terms of the research we contribute to our collective understanding of concussions and athletics,” according to the The Harvard Crimson. Ivy League Deputy Executive Director Carolyn Campbell- McGovern was apart of this game change, “A lot of the recommendations from the football report were naturally going to be applied to other sports as well, particularly the education components, sideline testing components, and any other of those types of enhancement,” Campbell-McGovern said. Recommendations for each sport, lacrosse, soccer, and hockey, will likely be different. On Wednesday, the Ivy League Concussion Committee met in New York to discuss what changes will be made. The committee will also review recommendations made by each sport's subcommittee. Athletic trainers, including Harvard Head Athletic Trainer Brant Berkstresser, physcians, and administrators make up the concussion committee. It is co-chaired by presidents David Skorton of Cornell, and Jim Kim of Dartmouth. Harvard Medical School instructor and doctor at Children's Hospital Boston's Division of Sports Medicine, Michael J. O'Brien has ideas for change. He says he sees 300-400 concussions every month, 98 percent of them sports-related. “The bigger risk is the athlete who gets injured, flies under the radar a little bit and gets a hit a few more times in that game or in the next two or three games. The injuries to that athlete tend to be exponential, their threshold to injury is much worse, and the damage is exponential. Using computer based testing to get objective information rather than just reporting symptoms would help," O'Brien said. Source: Ivy League Aims to Abate Concussions - The Harvard Crimson March 30, 2012 Questions/comments? contact Jean Rickerson at Jean@SportsConcussions.org

As the on-ice passion of the NHL playoff games intensifies so do the penalties, particularly for vicious hits to the head. Saturday's games resulted in three separate incidents that will highlight the league's commitment to cracking down on illegal hits that may, and often do, cause concussions. Brendan Shanahan, Senior Vice President, Player Safety and Operations held hearings on two of the three violations Sunday afternoon. The third is scheduled for Monday. The hits are reviewed on video and the suspensions are explained in great detail by Shanahan on the NHL network (see videos below). Shanahan suspended New York Rangers forward Carl Hagelin for an illegal hit that forced opponent Daniel Alfredsson's head into the glass. Alfredsson, the Senators captain, left the game for evaluation and his status for the rest of the playoffs is uncertain. On Monday the team announced he had suffered a concussion on the play. This is Hagelin's first major penalty. The Wall Street Journal reports that disciplinary action against Hagelin may increase if Alfredsson, who has a history of concussions, is unable to return to the series. A one-game suspension was also issued Sunday for Ottawa Senators defenseman Matt Carkner for continuing to pummel an "unwilling opponent," Rangers forward Brian Boyle, who was knocked to the ice after Carkner delivered two powerful blows to his head. Carkner continued to hit Boyle as he lay on the ice. Boyle did not return the punches. Carkner was classified as an "aggressor" under NHL rules and was assessed a minor penalty for instigating, a major penalty for fighting and a game misconduct. Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw is scheduled for a hearing on Monday for a shoulder-to-head hit on Coyotes goalie Mike Smith that left him down on the ice writhing in pain. Shaw earned a charging major and game misconduct on the play. Smith remained in the game. Last Thursday, Vancouver Canucks forward Byron Bitz was suspended for two games for a vicious hit to the head on Los Angeles Kings forward Kyle Clifford the night before. Clifford's head was shoved into the glass causing him to miss at least one game. In addition to the suspension Bitz was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct the night of the game. Carl Hagelin/ Daniel Alfredsson Matt Carkner/ Brian Boyle Byron Bitz/ Kyle Clifford Source: NHL Network Questions/comments? Contact Jean Rickerson at jean@SportsConcussions.org