What Happens To Your Brain During a Concussion
Analyzing the leading research in football helmet safety and concussion technology
Sports are full of recognizable sounds. The swish of a basketball net or the crack of a baseball bat are good examples. In a quiet room, the scraping sound of an ice skate or the "pfft" of a punted soccer ball are also unmistakable. But few other sounds carry the same weight as the all-too-familiar "pop" sound of two opposing forces colliding on a football field. In that sense, the sound of a football collision is much more akin to the sound of screeching rubber tires in the moments before a car accident.
Collision
“In a collision, the brain is basically driving without a seatbelt or an airbag. While better helmets and the banning of helmet-to-helmet detonations might help keep your skull intact, they would do nothing to stop the brain from smashing into the windshield in even minor collisions. –Ta Nehisi Coates
The metaphor used by Coates is spot on. Concussions occur as a result of our inept ability to take a hit, succumbing to an untamable force. Our brains float in merely 5 ounces of protective cerebrospinal fluid, and has only millimeters of space to move within the skull. Unbound by any kind of physical support structure, it is free to bounce around like a pinball inside of a snow globe.
When our head is jarred rapidly enough, the brain will lag behind the rest of the skull. When it catches up, however, it bursts through the surrounding layer of fluid and smashes into the skull’s inner walls. The key in reducing the likelihood of sustaining a concussion is to reduce the acceleration and deceleration of the head.
As the brain ricochets, its spongey, squishy, jello-like consistency collapses into itself and the boney outer shell of the skull. Its shape contorts and deforms under the immense pressures, reacting similarly to the way your pillow would to your fist if you were to punch it.
On its surface, the brain ripples like a tidal wave. Different areas are stretched and, because of their varying densities, shift independently of one another under duress. As a result, different structures overlap and certain areas of the brain can be stretched up to 50% greater than their original length. 1
Dr. Ruth Okamoto from Washington University uses jello inside of a glass bowl to mimic what our brain looks like when we hit our heads.
“If I hit the skull (glass bowl), the brain (jello) jiggles.”
The Impact of Impacts
The human brain has over 100 billion interconnected neural cells, each of which are constantly utilizing as many as 40,000 different synaptic transmission sites to communicate with each other.2 To organize a system with that much chaos, the brain uses an elaborate, intricate system of highways to send messages and signals.
Within milliseconds of a violent event, thousands of nerve cells are instantly decimated. The shifting brain pulls on the spindly axons, and rips them away from their respective cell bodies.
The dying cells begin to secrete toxic neurochemicals into the surrounding extracellular space. Like wildfire, more and more nerve cells die off and more and more neurochemicals are released into the surrounding area.3 The problem quickly compounds and creates sustained, irreparable brain damage that can continue to occur for days, to weeks, to months, to years after a traumatic event.4 The well-known degenerative brain disease “CTE,” (chronic traumatic encepathology) and its symptoms, showcase one example of post-concussion syndrome.
Protection
The two main parts of a football helmet are the outer shell and the inner padding. In most contemporary helmets, the outer shell acts as a stopping force. It uses a hard, thin and lightweight plastic, to stop momentum and delegates most of the impact to the foamy absorption layers that lie below.
Thankfully, the shell of a football helmet has recently been reimagined. By replacing the customary, un-contorting plastic with a softer, bendier, more malleable and flexible material, VICIS (vie-sis)—the leading company in football helmet research and technology safety—have designed the outer shell of their helmets to behave more like a car bumper, rather than a brick wall.
At first, that may sound a little counterintuitive. But, again, the key in reducing concussions is slowing the momentum of the head. By using a bendier, more malleable material, the VICIS design actually disperses of some of the energy of the blow, right at the surface, thus reducing the overall burden on inner padding.
VICIS helmets are also completely customizable. Each one comes with a set of padded-DLTA pods to be placed at six different locations inside the helmet.
In every VICIS helmet, there are also two additional layers of support and protection below the shell and primary layer of padding—the arch shell and the RFLX layer. The main function of the arch shell is to provide a place for the DLTA pods to snap into. This keeps the customized padding secure and stable inside the helmet.
The RFLX layer, however, acts in the exact opposite way. Similar to the softer outer shell of the helmet, the RFLX layer is designed with calculated-instability; it flexes with the forces imposed upon it. By allowing the collapsing, column-like structures to buckle and move in synchronicity, they help slow the acceleration of the head.
In 2016, The University of Washington’s Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center wanted to investigate how much better VICIS helmets were at reducing concussions. They supplied 21 high schools football teams with brand-new VICIS Zero1’s for 3 seasons. During that time, they found that the rate of concussions was reduced by nearly half (from 102 to just 59).
VICIS has also invented the first position-specific football helmet. Earlier this year, the company issued the VICIS Trench 2.0, which features an extra, detachable block of padding at the crown of the helmet, specifically designed for the repetitive impacts lineman must endure throughout a game. In March, the Trench 2.0 was given the highest helmet-safety rating of all-time by both the NFL and NFLPA. Today, about 10% of NFL lineman wear VICIS helmets.
Final Thoughts
Concussions follow football players from PeeWee all the way to the pros. But there is something to be said for the moment that a stadium full of family, friends, and coaches falls silent to wait to see if an injured 16 year-old is going to be able to return to his feet or not. Traditionally, being a football player has meant being one of the toughest S.O.B.’s around. But the muffled grunts, thudding shoulder pads, and cracking of helmets that play over each snap like a laugh track, remind those out on the field that they are at constant risk of suffering irreparable, degenerative brain damage.
The human brain may just be the single most outstanding thing that exists in the entire universe. But boy are they fragile. As scientists and engineers continue to better understand what causes concussions and what keeps our brains safe, we will become better-equipped to protect our gridiron warriors.
David Camarillo:
Thomas Jones: