Youth football, brain changes and concussions

posted in: Information for Parents, News | 0

We all love sports and our country loves football. I’m a fan and watch my favorite team on weekends, go to the local high school games and attend the college events as well. However, all those hard hits are affecting our youth. Make no mistake.

A recent study conducted at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem published in Neuroscience News on Monday shows that even head impacts without concussion cause neurological changes and decreased development. The more “head impacts” over a season, the more functional changes occur.

These changes are occurring at an important time of brain development for our teens and these changes may have lasting affects.

This is important information for us to consider when we have our children playing contact sports and especially those children who have brain developmental differences such as ADHD. Parents need to be fully informed about the risks when deciding to have their kids participate in sports activities.

To read the full article in Neuroscience News go to: http://neurosciencenews.com/youth-football-brain-impact-8032/