News
Santucci Researches Brain Injuries
Professor Santucci Makes Some Surprising Discoveries on Brain Injuries in Student Athletes
4.9.2007
The Project
When Dr. Anthony Santucci was approached by student Chad Killam concerning a project on the neuropsychological effects of concussions and other head trauma, the psychology professor found his passion for the subject suddenly renewed. “When I was in graduate school I had done work with animal models of brain injury, that included questions of recovery,” Professor Santucci said. “When Chad proposed this research subject, it sparked my interest in it again.”
The project focused on college athletes who played contact sports, such as ice hockey, field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. Unsurprisingly, athletes who self-reported a diagnosable concussion within the last two years performed poorly on immediate and delayed memory tests, compared to the non-athlete students who comprised the control group. The good news is that those subjects reporting concussions more than two years ago had similar scores to the control group, which shows that the brain does initiate a healing process after a concussion.
Unexpected Results
The research did yield some surprising results, however. “We did not expect to discover that college athletes in contact sports who NEVER reported having had a concussion also performed poorly when their memory was tested. This led us to conclude that the normal jarring and bumping that takes place in a contact sport causes minor damage to the brain as it endures low level “squishing” around inside the skull. The problem is that each little ding and bang that the brain suffers is not bad enough to trigger a healing process, and although this non-concussive damage is minor, over time it has a cumulative effect. These individuals aren’t saying, 'Oh, I cant remember anything.' In fact, the participants in the study maintained good GPA scores, and when you talked with them you would not realize anything was wrong. Yet when studied scientifically, subtle neurological impairments are noticed, even in the absence of a diagnosable concussion.”
Why It Matters
When asked why, if these subjects are not suffering obvious problems, does this research matter, Professor Santucci responded: “These kids are young, 21 or 22 years old. They might not be dramatically impaired now with everyday functions, but what happens 30 or 40 years down the road when the brain starts to suffer age related impairments? My hypothesis is that normal age related neurological loss will conspire with the earlier damage to make their later years difficult, and perhaps making the individual more susceptible to neurological memory disorders.”
Indeed, the results of this research were so provocative that the article entitled "Assessing The Neuropsychological Effects Of Head Trauma In College Athletes Who Participate In Contact Sports"* was accepted for publication in the medical journal “Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology.” What’s more, it became one of the twenty-five most downloaded articles from that journal in 2006. Dr. Santucci went on to present the study at the Eastern Psychological Association in Boston, Massachusetts.
Conclusion
Yet the professor still encourages participation in athletics, given caution and common sense. A loyal fan of the New York Jets, he’s also served as assistant football coach on his son’s youth football team. “One of the biggest risk factors for brain injury is returning to play too soon after taking a hit. The scientific literature suggests that athletes wait at least 24-48 hours before returning to play in order to allow the brain sufficient time to recover even if a concussion were not sustained. The problem is that in the machismo contact sports where ‘getting your bell rung’ is a badge of honor, this can be difficult for players to do when they are just told to shake it off. There is a generally held misconception that because head injuries aren’t often immediately obvious, that they do not need the same amount of time to recover like any other type of injury. Fortunately, efforts are now being made to find ways to better protect college and pro athletes. Helmet technology has improved dramatically within the last five years, and is continuing to improve. Modern helmets can better absorb concussive hits, and in the near future will be able to send data during game play via telemetrics to a computer that will analyze the severity of a hit. Some colleges are also now starting to assess the neuropsychological status of athletes before they enter a sports program, so that they have a base line for comparison if that athlete is suspected to have sustained a brain injury.”
Professor Santucci plans on continuing this line of research, and the results of a follow up study will be published in the near future.
*Manhattanville psychology professor Robin Cautin also contributed to this publication.