Youth winter sports are underway, and with a recent increase in national attention on the possible dangers of head trauma for athletes, it is important for coaches, parents and players to recognize symptoms of a concussion and also help lessen their likelihood of occurring.
A gene associated with the learning disorder dyslexia may play a role in athletes’ susceptibility to concussions, according to a study by Penn State and Northwestern University. The pilot study included 87 Division I Penn State football players from 2015 to 2017. Researchers aimed to determine whether a genotype in nine candidate genes predicted the number of previously diagnosed concussions in this group of football players.
Penn State College of Medicine researchers found that the presence of certain microRNAs — tiny snippets of noncoding RNA — in saliva was able to better identify concussions and more accurately predict the length of concussion symptoms than relying solely on patient surveys.
A researcher in Penn State’s Institute for CyberScience (ICS) is working to reduce the risk of concussion and brain injuries — and to reverse the damage they cause — through the power of high-performance computing.
Zack Furness, associate professor of communications at Penn State Greater Allegheny, will present “Warring Representations of the NFL, Football Masculinity & Broken Bodies” from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 21, in 276K Rec Hall on Penn State's University Park campus.
Penn State sophomore Matthew Roda's startup company is developing a portable concussion screening device that is being vetted by a University expert.
On Nov. 10, Briana Scurry will share her story — both as athlete and advocate — when she visits Penn State Behrend as part of the campus' Speaker Series. Her presentation, “On Success & Following Your Passion,” begins at 7:30 p.m. in the McGarvey Commons of the college’s Reed Union Building and is free and open to the public.
The Head Health Network (HHN) today announced a new partnership with the Penn State football team. A major component of the partnership includes utilizing the HHN’s advanced sensor system in Penn State’s innovative concussion research. This research is built around testing the effectiveness of various concussion-diagnostic tools such as physical and cognitive testing, virtual reality, and bio-markers.
Wayne Sebastianelli M.D., Kalanek Professor in Orthopedics and director of athletic medicine at Penn State, will present "Heads Up! Kids and Sports-Related Brain Injuries" at the third Research Unplugged event of the spring semester on Thursday, April 3, at 12:30 p.m. in a special location: the Pegula Ice Arena's Pegula Club Room.
WPSU-TV’s next ‘Conversations LIVE’ will tackle the effects of concussions and the new techniques in place to prevent these injuries. Host Patty Satalia will discuss sports-related concussions with four experts of the topic: Jim Gilmore, Ruben Echemendía, Camdin Crouse and Wayne Sebastianelli.
Penn State's Center for Sport Concussion Research and Service, in Rec Hall, has two main goals: to advance research in sport-related concussions and to provide services to local collegiate and child athletes by performing baseline assessments, which can help diagnose a concussion. The center is the first in its field to use virtual-reality technology to allow researchers to document athletes' cognitive and motor abilities.
Penn State Public Broadcasting continues to offer high-quality local programming with "Conversations LIVE," a monthly, interactive call-in show that features hot topics and provocative guests for Central Pennsylvania viewers. WPSU host Patty Satalia will lead guests in lively debate about current subjects that affect residents of Pennsylvania. The program will air monthly on Thursdays at 9 p.m. on WPSU-TV.
March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month. Traumatic brain injuries are disruptions or changes in the way the brain functions that occur due to a blow or jolt to the head or penetrating injuries. The severity can range from mild to severe. Brain injuries are the most common cause of death and lifelong disability for children. According to data from the Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital, the brain injuries that top the list are from sports, bike crashes, falls, or motor vehicle crashes.
Ah, summer! Season of baseball, bike rides, barbecues—and head injuries. There's nothing like warm weather to get people outside and active, and nothing like activity to fill up an emergency room.
But when does a bump on the head require immediate medical attention? ActressNatasha Richardson appeared to be fine after a skiing accident earlier this year; an hour later she was unconscious, and the next day she was dead.
