NASCAR: The Anatomy of a Concussion

A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works.

After the original blow, the brain then hits the skull in a counterblow that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth. In more severe cases, often as the result of twisting the neck during the blow, pressure is put on the brain stem.

This is particularly worrisome, as the brain stem is where all basic involuntary life functions are controlled including heart rate, breathing, sleeping and eating.

Bleeding, or other damage may occur as a result of a concussion. Often, people who sustain a concussion cannot remember the events surrounding the blow.

Symptoms of a concussion include being drowsy, hard to wake up or similar changes, having a headache, loss of consciousness, memory loss (amnesia) of events before the injury or right after, nausea and vomiting, seeing flashing lights, or even feeling like you have "lost time".

Sometimes the symptoms may even be severe enough to seek immediate medical attention. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), patients should seek immediate medical care if there are:

Accordingly, the American Academy of Neurology has established guidelines for three levels of concussion:

Grade 1: No perceptible loss of consciousness; mild confusion and loss of coordination; symptoms lasting no more than 15 minutes (checking every five minutes for symptoms, up until 15 minutes has expired. If symptoms have cleared, an athlete may resume normal activity).

If an athlete suffers multiple grade-1 concussions, he or she may resume normal athletic activity after neurological clearance and being symptom-free for one week.

Grade 2: No perceptible loss of consciousness; mild confusion and loss of coordination; symptoms lasting more than 15 minutes (remove athlete from competition, exam him or her frequently; conduct a neurological assessment).

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NASCAR: The Anatomy of a Concussion