Institute For The Future

Brain health is on my mind

Even as I write this, the Health Horizons team is in the middle of participating in the SharpBrains Virtual Summit, which you can follow on Twitter at IFTFHealth and/or using the hash tag #sharp2010. It turns out that today is a busy day for thinking about the brain. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a story about the use of deep brain stimulation—a small, steady electrical current is applied to electrodes implanted in the brain—to treat depression.

In "You say concussion, I say brain injury. Let's call the whole thing serious," the Los Angeles Times reports on a study (published in Pediatrics) that examined how the use of terminology to describe a mild brain trauma affects how seriously the injury is treated.  

Injured kids whose parents hear the word "concussion" spend less time in the hospital, go back to school and other activities earlier, and run greater risks to their cognitive health than do kids whose parents are told their child has sustained a "brain injury."

The story reminded me of a fascinating Malcolm Gladwell article in the New Yorker a couple of months ago that explored what neuropathologists are learning about trauma-related degeneration of the brains of former National Football League players. 

It strikes me that the same question might be asked in this context, as well: would football players be less likely to return to practice and game play if they were told that they had a "brain injury" rather than "a concussion"? Of course, given the culture of the sport, perhaps such semantics might not make much of a difference.  Gladwell quotes one player: 

That’s football. You’re told either that you’re hurt or that you’re injured. There is no middle ground. If you are hurt, you can play. If you are injured, you can’t . . .

(He goes on to say ". . . and the line is whether you can walk and if you can put on a helmet and pads.”)

Gladwell explains how scientists are developing new ways of understanding concussions and the consequences of multiple head impacts over time.  Studies have revealed the prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease known to cause cognitive decline, behavioral abnormalities and ultimately dementia, in former boxers and now football players.  According to the New York Times, professional hockey players are next.

All of this research is heading us in the direction of better neuro-health. As one of the Summit speakers observed earlier today, "We must do for brain health what we accomplished for cardiovascular health in the past century."  Here, here.