News & Headlines

As a player, Andrew Cordssen-David suffered concussions that weren’t always caught by current protocols. As the founder of HeadFirst Inc., he hopes his more objective, rapid test will be a game changer.

There are certain phrases that Wachuka Gichohi finds difficult to hear after enduring four years of living with long COVID, marked by debilitating fatigue, pain, panic attacks and other symptoms so severe she feared she would die overnight. Among them are normally innocuous statements such as, "Feel better soon" or "Wishing you a quick recovery," the Kenyan businesswoman said, shaking her head. Gichohi, 41, knows such phrases are well-intentioned. "I think you have to accept, for me, it’s not going to happen." Recent scientific studies shed new light on the experience of millions of patients like Gichohi. They suggest the longer someone is sick, the lower their chances of making a full recovery.

Intense stress can lead to fuzzy memories, which can lead to more generalized fear responses. Now, scientists may have just discovered why. A study in mice, published Friday (Nov. 15) in the journal Cell, suggests that stress hormones can distort how memories are recorded, leading to less-precise recollections and a future tendency to be unable to properly distinguish between safe triggers and threats. The new findings could help uncover new avenues to treat people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and generalized anxiety disorder.

All it takes is one moment of rage to change lives forever. That‘s the message one Lincoln family is sharing through their documentary ’Forever Shaken.' The first version of that documentary followed four families impacted by Shaken Baby Syndrome, a form of Abusive Head Trauma. Now they’re releasing a new version to show the effects 10 years later. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Abusive Head Trauma is the leading cause of child abuse deaths in children under five. For the children that do survive, their lives change drastically.

A researcher at the University of Missouri has helped identify a new sign that could help diagnose concussions. Dr. Ross Zafonte, Executive Vice Dean for the University of Missouri School of Medicine, contributed to the study published in October which identified a new concussion sign known as SHAAKE. The acronym stands for Spontaneous Headshake After a Kinematic Event. “That individual is shaking their head usually between two to eight times per second. And we believe there are many reasons why that can be occurring,” Zafonte said. “Could be visual - could be people are trying to stabilize their visual field. It could be they're simply trying to clear their sensorium or get a sense of where am I and what's going on.”

The pounding that sailors’ brains take from years of high-speed wave-slamming in the Special Boat Teams can cause symptoms that wreck their careers — and their lives.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among active-duty service members and veterans impacts not only individuals experiencing PTSD, but also their spouses and families. Left untreated, PTSD is typically chronic and very impairing. However, for individuals experiencing PTSD, one weekend retreat with their partner can support recovery while simultaneously improving their romantic relationships, according to a pilot study led by Steffany Fredman, associate professor of human development and family studies and associate professor of psychology at Penn State.

A commentary, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, calls for traumatic brain injury to be recognized as a chronic condition as are diabetes, asthma, depression and heart failure. To provide comprehensive care for traumatic brain injury throughout individuals' lifespans, the authors propose that coordinated care models they and others have developed, tested and applied to various populations—including older adults, individuals living with depression and post-intensive care unit survivors—be adapted to improve communication and integration between brain injury specialists—including physical medicine and rehabilitation clinicians—and primary care physicians, fostering better long-term patient care for traumatic brain injury survivors and more support for both patients and their families.

A troubling report from the Pentagon earlier this year revealed that suicide is the leading cause of death for Army soldiers—a population that is nearly nine times as likely to die by suicide than in combat.  “Suicide in the military continues to be a public health crisis, despite decades of targeted interventions. The rates are persistently higher than in the general population,” says Jayna Moceri-Brooks, an assistant professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing who studies firearm injury prevention and suicide among service members and veterans.

If professional athletes are meant to be real-life superheroes, Miami Dolphins star Tua Tagovailoa looked remarkably mortal on September 12. With his team down 31-10 in the third quarter against the Buffalo Bills, the quarterback spotted a gap at the line of scrimmage and decided to scramble for a first down. When he encountered Bills' defender Damar Hamlin, Tagovailoa lowered his head and ran straight into him. Tagovailoa stayed down injured after the play. He had suffered the third concussion of his NFL career, on top of the one he was diagnosed with during his time in the collegiate ranks.

A high school senior from Bangor, Maine, has decided that when the time comes, he will donate his brain to science. Fionn Parker-Cummings is the youngest person to donate his brain to the University of Pittsburgh National Sports Brain Bank. Researchers will check in with him every year for the rest of his life. Parker-Cummings said he hopes the contribution will advance traumatic brain injury research to protect players like NFL quarterbacks Drake Maye and Tua Tagovailoa, who have recently suffered concussions.