Neuro Note #2: OT 537

For my second neuro note I chose to watch another TED Talk. I actually really enjoy watching these short videos because they tend to be interesting and very informative, so I find them beneficial to my learning experience. The TED Talk I chose to listen to this time is titled "Protecting the brain against concussion" by Kim Gorgens. I was not necessarily sure if I wanted to watch this one for my neuro note, but as I began the video I was happy I chose to listen to her speak. Kim discussed the relevance of concussions especially in children. She is a mother of an eight-year old little boy and has labeled herself as being somewhat of a neurotic mother when it comes to his protection. However, after she provided the statistics and prevalence of concussions in children I do not necessarily see her as being neurotic. Children are at a higher risk for sustaining a concussion given the various play activities they participate in. Gorgens went on to say that once you sustain your first concussion the likelihood that you will suffer from more increases tremendously. This is especially the case for children because children are more vulnerable to brain injury, so while an adult may recover rather quickly, a child does not have that same rate of recovery. Another point Gorgens discusses is the long term effects that multiple concussions has on an individual. Research has shown that individuals with multiple concussions tend to be prone to having early onset dementia in adulthood. Overall, this TED talk was aimed toward discussing the awareness of sustaining a concussion and how important it is to be aware of the risks. Gorgens is a strong advocate for wearing helmets whenever participating in activities that concussions are likely to occur such as football and riding a bike. I learned a great deal more about concussions and how the risk of multiple concussions becomes exponentially greater after enduring the first one. I definitely enjoyed this TED Talk and am excited to learn more details about the mechanism of concussions in class.



Gorgens, Kim. (2010, May). Protecting the brain against concussion [TED Talk]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/kim_gorgens_protecting_the_brain_against_concussion#t-370534