This has important implications for sports-based concussions......
Two or more serious hits to the head within days of each other can interfere with the brain’s ability to use sugar – its primary energy source – to repair cells damaged by the injuries, new research suggests.
The brain’s ability to use energy is critical after an injury. In animal studies, Ohio State University scientists have shown that brain cells ramp up their energy use six days after a concussion to recover from the damage. If a second injury occurs before that surge of energy use starts, the brain loses its best chance to recover.
In mice, the lack of energy use for recovery led to inflammation, degeneration of brain cell segments and problems with learning and memory.
In new work presented Sunday (11/16) at Neuroscience 2014, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, these same scientists have observed that even if the required glucose is present in the brain, faulty insulin signals in an injured brain don’t allow cells to take up the sugar and use it.
All clinical signs suggest that two head injuries close together are dangerous and can even be deadly. But the science behind what’s actually going on in the brain is still unclear – and knowing these details could help in deciding when to return athletes to play or military members to service, said lead author Zachary Weil, assistant professor of neuroscience at Ohio State.
Weil said the discovery that insulin resistance plays a role in brain recovery after injury could also help explain the development of a brain disease seen in professional athletes who have had multiple traumas to the head – chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Several CTE symptoms resemble Alzheimer’s disease – memory problems, disorientation and trouble concentrating – and the link between defective insulin signals and Alzheimer’s is already established.