Why rest is critical after a concussion

  • A mouse study shows how repeated concussions affect the brain, and confirms the value of having several days of rest after injury.

In the study, mice were repeatedly given extremely mild concussive impacts while anesthetized. The brain's response to a single concussion was compared with an injury received daily for 30 days and one received weekly over 30 weeks.

Mice with a single insult temporarily lost 10-15% of their neuronal connections (dendritic spines), but there was no inflammation or cell death. With three days rest, all neuronal connections were restored.

However, those given daily concussions did not show a loss in dendritic spines, and it's thought that the brain habituates to the repeated shocks. It's further suggested that the loss of synapses is actually a protective effect, allowing the brain to regain normal calcium flow. The long-term effect of this not happening is unknown.

Those given a week of rest between each insult did show the normal dendritic spine loss, however.

Additionally, when a mild concussion occurred each day for a month, there was inflammation and damage to the white matter, and this damage continued for months after the last impact.

These findings are consistent with what has been seen in humans, where white matter inflammation has been found to be a long-lasting consequence of TBI.

On a more positive note, in this model of very mild concussion, there was no increase in tau tangles, suggesting this might be limited to more serious injuries.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/gumc-fse012816.php

Reference: 

Related News

A study which followed 20 members of a youth football team in New Jersey found that wearing padded helmets and using safer tackling and blocking techniques greatly cut the chance of head injuries and concussion.

In a study involving 594 patients with sports-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), only 45% had made a clinical recovery (had no more symptoms) after 14 days. The finding challenges current belief that most people with a sports-related mTBI recover within 10 to 14 days

A randomized clinical trial involving 103 teenage athletes who sustained concussions while playing sports found that those who underwent a supervised, aerobic exercise program took significantly less time to recover compared to those who instead engaged in mild stretching.

New method finds undetected brain impairments in ice hockey players with and without diagnosed concussions

The American Academy of Pediatric now supports children and teens engaging in light physical activity and returning to school as they recover. It also now advises against complete removal of electronic devices, such as television, computers and smartphones, following a concussion.

Can stronger necks reduce concussion risk & severity?

A review of nearly 2.8 million patient cases in Denmark found that the risk of dementia in individuals with a history of TBI was 24% higher than those without a history of TBI, after accounting for other risk factors.

A study showing that a certain type of instructor-led brain training protocol can stimulate structural changes in the brain and neural connections even years after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) challenges the widely held belief that recovery from a TBI is limited to two years after an injury.

Key points that are new in the 5th International Consensus statement on concussion in sport:

A small study involving 71 adults who struggled with persistent cognitive difficulties after suffering a traumatic brain injury at least four months before has compared two cognitive training programs with and without drug therapy.

The two six-week programs were

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.