Repeated concussions can thicken the skull, Monash University study finds

Repeated head trauma thickens skull bone. Image: Shutterstock

New research has found that repeated concussions can thicken the structure of skull bones. Previous studies have shown damage to the brain following concussion, but have not looked at the brain’s protective covering.

A Monash-led study published in the journal Scientific Reports by Associate Professor Bridgette Semple from the Monash University’s Central Clinical School Department of Neuroscience, found that repeated concussions resulted in thicker, denser bones in the skull.

See faculty story here.

AFL players with concussion returning to play too soon: study

Footballers are returning to play too soon after a concussion injury.

Image: Getty

A Monash University study of amateur Australian rules footballers has found the brains of players are still recovering two weeks after receiving a concussion, calling into question the length of existing recovery guidelines.

See 

• Monash story 
• The Age story

Participants sought: Biomarkers in brain trauma

Healthy participants sought for concussion biomarker study.
Image: Shutterstock

Biomarkers in Brain Trauma (BIOBiT-III) - Diagnosis and follow-up of concussion after mild traumatic brain injury

Concussion is common, in particular, during combat training and contact sports, leading to disturbance in brain function caused by direct or indirect force to the head. Concussion typically results in the rapid onset of short-lived impairment of neurological function that resolves spontaneously in most cases. 

There are, however, no current tests that can reliably detect subtle changes from concussion or track brain recovery. 

Brain injury from concussion in young football players causes long-term damage

Study shows subtle abnormalities in young AFL football players' brains
six months after concussion injury.

Monash Neuroscience Trauma Group researchers have published the first study to report long-term physical damage to the brains of young adult Australian rules players, even six months after their most recent concussion, raising concerns about the long term neurological health of these players. 

See:

• Monash Medicine news story
• Cerebral Cortex paper 
• Monash Trauma Group
  

Contact sport athletes are returning to play too soon after concussion, study finds

Research shows contact athletes are returning to play too soon.
Image: Shutterstock

New research from Monash University into brain changes post-concussion indicates that the brain remains injured and potentially vulnerable after more than two weeks – raising concerns that new AFL concussion guidelines may be still allowing athletes to return to play before the brain has fully recovered.

In a paper published in the journal, Cerebral Cortex, Monash researchers conducted MRI scans on concussed athletes from amateur Australian Football clubs in Melbourne at both 48-hours and 2 weeks after their concussion, and compared them to non-concussed athletes.

The long-term consequences of sport concussions

Georgia Symons (left) and Will O'Brien (right) are CCS PhD students
in the Monash Trauma Group and both are first authors on papers
investigating concussion in sport. See respectively
Symons et al. paper; O'Brien et al. paper

Australian football is the most popular collision sport in Australia – with an average of 6-7 concussions occurring every 1000 match hours across amateur and professional leagues. Despite this high incidence of mild traumatic brain injury, there has been little study of the long-term neurological damage associated with this sport.

Two recently published studies by the Monash Trauma Group in Central Clinical School's Department of Neuroscience looked at the long-term consequences of concussion on the sporting field. They found that indicators of brain injury in the blood and saliva can be persistently changed for years after the injury.

Georgia Fuller Symons wins 'Neuroscience in a Flash' competition!

One of Central Clinical School's 2nd year PhD students, Ms Georgia Fuller Symons, has won 1st place in Session 2 of the Monash Neuroscience in a Flash Competition. Congratulations Georgia!

Georgia's topic was "Hitting close to home: concussion in Australian collision sport". See more detail of her talk topic below.

Concussion in Australian collision sports 'under-researched'

Ms Georgia Fuller Symons, first author

on the paper, demonstrating the frame

for ocular motor function tests, one of 

the indicators of brain trauma

by Anne Crawford

Concussion sustained during collision sports including AFL and rugby, and its effects on players, is a growing issue in Australia but research into the subject is limited and lacks consensus, a paper by Monash University Department of Neuroscience researchers has found.

First author PhD student Georgia Symons said the review, which appeared recently in the Journal of Neurotrauma, found that most literature on the topic predominantly looked at North American contact sports such as ice hockey and NFL, and also European sport.

Spotlight on our NHMRC Fellowship winners: Associate Professor Sandy Shultz

A/Prof Sandy Shultz
Department of Neuroscience

by Anne Crawford

Associate Professor Sandy Shultz. Career Development Fellowship to: conduct innovative translational studies into mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

Mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) such as concussions affect millions of people worldwide. They are common on the sporting field and in military operations, and can occur as a result of anything from vehicle accidents to slips and falls in the home. Growing evidence is showing that repeated brain injuries are associated with lasting neurological impairments and neurodegenerative disease.

Yet the underlying pathophysiology of these effects is poorly understood.