Athletes Are at a Higher Risk for Traumatic Brain Injuries. A Neuropsychologist Explains the Danger and How to Prevent the Onset of CTE.
One of the most significant, and urgent, developments in neuropsychology taking place within our lifetime has been an increased understanding of traumatic brain injuries, especially as they relate to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Chances are, if you’re an athlete who plays a contact sport like football or soccer, you’re familiar with Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (MBTI), also known as concussions. As a neuropsychologist with a practice focused on sports psychology and injury support, this is one of the most common conditions I treat. By itself, it can be a mild and temporary cognitive impairment. But repeated head traumas can lead to a dangerous degenerative effect, which at its most extreme can snowball into CTE.
HOW TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES BECOME CHRONIC
Bumps on the head are, for many athletes, a risk that comes with the territory. Over 10 percent of the estimated 1.7–3.8 million concussions that the CDC estimates Americans suffer from each year occur due to recreation, which can range from the high-contact sports mentioned above to falls or accidents while skiing, biking, rock climbing, and more. The science is clear on the best preventative measures in these cases: always wear a helmet when engaging in activities that can put your brain at risk. A certain risk of exposure to MBTIs is inevitable when frequently pursuing these kinds of activities. The important thing is to minimize the danger of a serious injury whenever possible.
However, for many of the professional athletes I interact with at SESSIONS, my integrated physical and mental health care practice, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a real danger once repeated head traumas start to add up. CTE has been studied and diagnosed since at least the 1920s, at first under the term “punch-drunk syndrome” because of its prevalence in boxing. But the full extent of the dangers it poses on cognitive health are only just beginning to come into view, largely thanks to advances in research related to former and current players in the NFL. To an extent not previously imagined, it’s been shown that repeated tackles and collisions can have lasting, cumulative and dangerous effects.
For multiple head traumas to develop into CTE, experts believe the tau protein, which contributes to the makeup of neurons, is knocked out of its role as a structural element, setting off a chain reaction where the connections between brain cells collapse. Symptoms of CTE include memory problems, trouble multitasking, mood swings such as aggression and the onset of depression, which can worsen over time. Because tau proteins are closely linked to dementia, aging athletes diagnosed with CTE will often develop increasing cognitive and memory impairments as well. Several of the most infamous cases of CTE in the NFL died at a young age as a result of depression-induced suicide, an indicator of how extreme the symptoms of CTE can become.
Sadly, we’re still only able to definitively diagnose CTE today during an autopsy. But thanks to new research in the neuroscience field, we do know a lot more about what to look for to catch the signs of compounding brain injuries early. And we are developing the tools to combat the degeneration of brain cells and improve cognition and mental health through therapies like SESSIONS’ Cognitive Skills Coaching.
THERAPY FOR HIGH PERFORMERS
One of the unique services we offer at SESSIONS is Cognitive Skills Coaching, which helps with numerous neurological events but can be used to support recovery following a concussion or other traumatic brain injury. By working regularly with athletes on a number of cognitive therapy practices, such as memory games, brain exercises and cognition assessments, we can establish a patient’s mental patterns and use these as a baseline to monitor for signs of deterioration. We’ve found that, with regular engagement, these skill sessions cannot only act as a defense against CTE and compounding brain injuries, but can improve executive functioning as well.
Cognitive Skills Coaching, which includes both preventative and responsive measures like CTE recovery and injury support, is part of our holistic approach to health that integrates mental health for athletes with general sports psychology and rehabilitation. As a professional athlete, the needs of the body are often placed before those of the mind, but it’s impossible to separate the two. At SESSIONS, we want all our athletic patients to be able to safely reach their full potential, but that can only happen when cognition is strong as well, not to mention the benefits of a strong mental outlook, motivation and stable and positive moods.
Whether you’re going for a Lombardi Trophy or simply trying to keep fit by biking, skiing, climbing and more, it’s important to stay safe out there, taking whatever preventative measures are available to protect your skull and brain. Luckily, improving helmet technology isn’t the only recent development that offers hope for long-term cognitive health among athletes. Thanks to improvements in brain damage support, imaging and recovery, we can better diagnose and treat the issue as it develops. The most important thing I can tell my patients when facing a potentially degenerative condition is to take precautions and be proactive. Don’t wait for this disease to progress further before seeking help.
