Concussions and the Injured Brain

Published29 Jan 2016
Reviewed29 Jan 2016
Author Juliet M. Beverly
Source BrainFacts/SfN

What happens in the brain during and after a concussion?

Quick blows to the head can cause a host of complications in the brain.

Brain tissue from a healthy individual, an NFL football player, and a boxer.

Hard Knocks: The Science of Concussions

Scientists have long known that blows to the head can be dangerous. What happens in the brain when two athletes collide on the field?

Ann C McKee, MD, VA Boston/Boston University School of Medicine

Overlay plots of T1-weighted magnetic resonance images and topographical maps of relative sleep electroencephalography (EEG) power distribution.

Neurological Trauma

Brain injury is all too common, but treatments are being improved constantly. Those who survive a brain injury face a lifetime of disability, with economic costs approaching $60 billion annually.

Kurth, et al. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2010.

This image shows the cells (purple) lining the ventricles in the brain of an adult mouse. These cells have tiny hair-like projections called cilia (green) that beat in the same direction to enable the flow of CSF.

Image of the Week: Cushioning the Brain

Tiny hair-like structures help circulate the fluid that cushions and protects the brain.

Ohata, et al. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2015.

Neuromyth: Brain Damage is Always Permanent

Truth: In some instances, the brain can repair itself.

Photo of Siddharthan Chandran during his TED Talk 'Can the Damaged Brain Repair Itself?'

Siddharthan Chandran: Can the Damaged Brain Repair Itself?

After a traumatic brain injury, it sometimes happens that the brain can repair itself. Siddharthan Chandran walks through some new techniques using special stem cells that could allow the damaged brain to rebuild faster.

Impacts to the head can sometimes cause traumatic brain injuries (TBI), the most common of which are concussions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2010, TBI accounted for 2.5 million emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or deaths, either alone or in combination with other injuries. So what happens to the concussed or injured brain? Browse through the images and their descriptions and click on the link in each caption to read the full articles.

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About the Author

Juliet M. Beverly

Juliet M. Beverly is the senior editor for BrainFacts. She previously worked at the Embassy of Austria in the Office of Science & Technology as the assistant editor for Bridges, an online magazine covering transatlantic science and technology policy.