Sports' Brain Injuries

Ouch. New studies about football and head injuries are positively frightening. According to a study of three Division I college teams sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (published in the Journal of Athletic Training), college players sustain more total hits to the head in practices than in games. More research: Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, found that a college football player participates in about 12 practices for every game played during the full year. No other N.C.A.A.-sponsored sport had a ratio higher than 4 to 1. The risk of all the head trauma? Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. You or a loved one DO want to avoid this!! Check out the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/sports/17concussions.html?_r=1

Neurons - Differ like Snowflakes

First we hear that your brain is as unique as your fingerprints. Now we hear that much like snowflakes, no two neurons are exactly alike. "But it's not the size or shape that sets one neuron apart from another, it's the way it responds to incoming stimuli." According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, this diversity is critical to overall brain function and essential in how neurons process complex stimuli and code information. Estimates say that the human brain alone has upwards of 100 billion neurons, and that the brain itself is considered to be one of the most sophisticated computers that exists. Now researchers say every neurons (chip?) is unique? Check out the report for yourself.


Crhttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/cmu-ndm082610.php#