The Rip Test: Motivation And Behavioral Science

My first research project was the dangers and preventions of concussions in sports. Concussions can be very dangerous if you are not wearing the proper equipment and do not treat them properly. For those of you who don’t know “a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the skull”. There are many symptoms of a concussion. “You may be suffering from a concussion if you experience dizziness, headache, off-balance, amnesia for what occurred before the head trauma, anterograde amnesia (a loss of ability to create new memories after the head trauma), difficulty concentrating, irritability and vomiting”.

The purpose of this study was to determine the association between having a previous concussion and then experiencing concussive signs and symptoms following head impacts. It was hypothesized that previously concussed athletes would have more severe and frequent signs and symptoms of a concussion following a head impact compared to athletes with no previous concussion. To test this hypothesis, 201 college athletes participated in a questionnaire. They were asked about previous concussions and if they experience concussive signs and symptoms when they had head impacts. After the results were all collected, it showed that nearly 60% of athletes who had zero previous concussions reports experiences signs and symptoms following head impacts! compared to nearly 80% of athletes who have had a concussion. These results show a significant correspondence between previous history of concussion and the reoccurrence of concussive signs and symptoms following a head

The participants that was selected for this research were athletes that were practicing and competing during the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 academic school year. A total of fifty seven concussed college athletes were selected from five northeastern universities active in basketball, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, football, wrestling, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, and cheerleading. From the fifty seven collegiate that were selected 36 of them did not have any history while 21 of the athletes have two or more history of concussion. This study did not include athletes with a history of one concussion due to the fact that their sample size provided inadequate data.

Firstly, I will be using a bibliography on Dr. Bennet Omalu, the lead scientist in discovering CTE in former NFL brains. This will allow for me to have scientific proof in my argument, and add a sense of humanization to my argument. The second source I will be using is a timeline released by PBS called “The NFL’s Concussion Crisis.” This timeline covers every significant event involving concussions in the NFL starting in 1994, which allows for a solid foundation of facts for me to draw from. Finally, I will be using an article posted by CNN called “NFL announces $100 million concussion initiative.” This article offers a different perspective than my previous two, but helps me come to the conclusion of my paper which is the answer to how things can be

An investigation published a year ago by the New York Times discovered that concussion research from the National Football League (NFL) was left incomplete almost to the point of being misleading. The Times also reported, data that the NFL used in 13 peer-reviewed articles, that supported the

Overall, this article explores the connection between youth concussions and long term degeneration of cognition and motor skills. Athletes who were concussed as late-teens have a high rate of Alzheimer’s and cognition impairments, as early as 30 years after the concussion. Two groups were compared, one who had sustained concussions at this late teen stage, and those who had never been concussed. Various neurological tests were conducted such as the Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Rey-Osterreith Complex Rigure Test, along with a test for motor skills. The MMSE test found no substantial differences between the two groups. However, the concussed group scored lower on the RCFT test, and a lower response time in the motor skills test. They

The factor that adds importance to the research being done on sports related concussions is large numbers of young athletes competing in contact sports with high risk of injury.

CTE is a problem arising among professional athletes dating back to the 1920’s. (Jay Barry Harris) Many of these athletes, mostly retired, have struggled in their later years with mental illnesses such as memory loss, depression, substance abuse, and suicide. (Saulle and Greenwald) Concussions are the most common occurrence in athletes with an estimated 1.6–3.8 million sport-related concussions reported annually in America (Daneshvar et el). Concussions are the main source of CTE, however this can be an underrepresentation of the true number because many athletes do not seek medical attention or vocalize their symptoms. Many athletes fail to report their symptoms because of their desire to continue playing. In a 2009 CTE review, it found that 46 out of 51 neuropathologically diagnosed cases of CTE occurred in athletes, which translates to 90% (Mckee et el).

New evidence is now coming out showing that repeated brain trauma significant enough to cause concussions is causing long term effects that do not show up until later in life. This issue is knows as CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. This new condition is not yet well understood but the researchers know that it is in part caused by repetitive brain trauma. CTE has many negative side effects and symptoms that many retired NFL athletes are now starting to show which include; executive dysfunction, memory impairment, depression, and suicidality, apathy, poor impulse control, and eventually dementia. Since this is a CTE is a new finding research and findings are slow to come because their is yet to be a clinical diagnosis, findings have only come from post-mortem research and the individual's mental and physical history before his or her death (Baugh & Stamm, 2012). “Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) has found neuropathologically confirmed CTE in football players with no history of diagnosed or reported concussions (but who played positions, such as lineman, with the greatest exposure to repetitive hits to the head). This is a good example as to why concussion recognition, treatment, and prevention is so important. CTE so far is only showing up in athletes who are retired and ages 40 and older. These are the athletes who competed before

In medical terms, concussions are described as "a complex pathophysiologic process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces" (Hunt, Paniccia, Reed, & Keightley, 2016, p. 749). Over the past couple of years, the number of concussions in athletics has increased drastically. According to the data released by the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, in the school year 2005-06 there were 133,000 concussions, which was much less than the recent data of the 2014-15 school year of 292,000 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Not only are concussions becoming more prominent, but they accounted for 24.5% of all the injuries in 2014-15 (Brzycki, 2016, p. 57). Although many advances in concussion protocol have been

The diagnosis of my concussion was based on how I was feeling and my results on the ImPACT test. Feelings are self-reported, which is inherently subjective, and should not be a true test for concussion. While the ImPACT test has shown effectiveness in acute conditions, it fails to successfully identify minor concussions or when an asymptomatic person is biologically ready to return to play. I remember many of my friends purposely doing poorly on a baseline ImPACT test in the hope that they would be able to return to play before they had truly returned to baseline cognitive function. This proves that the further development of objective tests is crucial.

Studies like the study at Virginia Tech can be used to identify the root cause of consussions and may in result, lead to a solution to the mass head trauma experienced by youth and even professional players. Because concussions occur so often in football, it is a suitable ground sero for the research on consussions in sports. It can lead to better medical diagnosis on the field where spli-second decisions are made and even in domestic cases. I addition, because concussions are a very misunderstood injury, this research is needed. The study wishes to develop a better helmet for football specifically but sports like hoccer could be benefitted too. The general knowledge of concussions would expand if more advanced and specific studies like these

Once flippantly referred to as having one’s bell rung, mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) or concussions are no innocuous contusions. Annually in the United States, approximately 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury that is confirmed through diagnosis. Of these, roughly 75% are categorized as mTBIs or concussions, although the total number of concussions may be slighted considering 81-92% of these injuries do not result in loss of consciousness. Recent controversy concerning professional athletes and their mental health has brought to light evidence that concussions may cause severely deleterious effects on a person’s wellness in later life. This poses the question, to

Many private companies and researchers have taken the issue of concussions head on. Research has drastically increased throughout the 21st century. In the words of Mark Lovell PhD. founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, “90% of what we know about concussions we’ve learned in the past five years.” These private researchers have taken different approaches to solving the issue but they are all working to achieve one goal: the reduction of concussions and the prevention of their long-term effects.

This article was very intriguing to read. As a very competitive high school athlete, I had suffered from a severe concussion, as a result from taking the opposing team’s attempted shot on goal to the back of the head, which kept me out of any sports related activity for a month while also missing school for a week and a half. It was also very interesting to read about how concussions occur more in high school athletes than in college athletes. This can be due colleges only selecting from the most skilled pool of athletes, while high school coaches tend to allow players will little skill and no concept of the game to play in the game as long as they can perform to the level at which the can be successful from.