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From the N.F.L. to youth sports, what new research tells us about brain injuries

FILE: The Woodbury Athletic Association, which sponsors youth football, held signups for youth football with time trials and issuing of equipment for youth, and a meeting for parents with emphasis on helmets and their relationship to football related concussions. A youth equipment supervisor pumps air into safety cushions inside a youth football helmet.
Marlin Levison
/
Star Tribune via Getty Images
FILE: The Woodbury Athletic Association, which sponsors youth football, held signups for youth football with time trials and issuing of equipment for youth, and a meeting for parents with emphasis on helmets and their relationship to football related concussions. A youth equipment supervisor pumps air into safety cushions inside a youth football helmet.

We know football players take some big hits.

Now, new research is giving us a clearer picture of how repeated head impacts can affect the brain, including findings of C.T.E. – a degenerative brain disease – in 215 of 878 former N.F.L. players whose brains were studied.

But the risks aren’t limited to professional football. Young athletes in many sports can suffer concussions and other head injuries, too.

This hour, we talk with a neurologist, a brain injury specialist, and a high school athletic director about what we know about C.T.E., how schools are approaching head injuries, and how to make sports safer.

Guests:

  • Dr. Anthony Alessi: Associate Clinical Professor of Neurology and Orthopedics, Director, UConn NeuroSport Program 
  • Victor Darr: Senior Brain Injury Specialist at the Brain Injury Alliance of Connecticut
  • Chris Meyers: Director of Athletics and Student Activities at Newington High School 

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Chloe is a producer for The Wheelhouse and Where We Live at Connecticut Public. She's also the host and a producer of the narrative podcast "Generation: Gilmore Girls." Before that, she produced and reported for VPM and Story Mechanics on the investigative podcast 'Admissible: Shreds of Evidence.' She earned her master's degree from Columbia Journalism School in 2021. Reach her at cwynne@ctpublic.org.
Catherine is the Host of Connecticut Public’s morning talk show and podcast, Where We Live. Catherine and the WWL team focus on going beyond the headlines to bring in meaningful conversations that put Connecticut in context.