Hey, it's Flora Lichten, and you're listening to Science Friday.

Today in the show, concussions, and how new science is shaking up treatment and prevention.

I'm not telling patients now to turn down lights, turn down noises, get off their phones, off their computers.

Really? Because that is, I still have heard, you know, that I feel like that is the prevailing.

I know.

Wisdom.

It drives me crazy.

Really? Okay. Tell us more.

You know, if you've ever watched a football game, and I'm sure you have, I don't have to tell you that those athletes get hit hard.

And concussions have long been considered a kind of occupational hazard of the sport.

But is this a risk we can engineer our way out of?

With better helmets and guidelines around concussion prevention, could we expect no concussions for football players or other athletes?

Joining me now to talk about the science of helmets and head injuries are my guests.

Dr. Michael Collins, clinical and executive director of the Sports Medicine Concussion Program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center,

and Dr. Barry Miller,

Director of Outreach at the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab. Welcome both of you to Science Friday.

Thank you. Thank you. Michael, let's start with you. What physiologically is happening during a concussion?

Like, how well do we understand this injury? We know it pretty well.

You know, the word concusses literally translates from Latin to English to mean to shake violently.

And just for example, say, think about your brain as an egg yolk inside an egg shell.

And the egg yolk is going to move inside the shell, even though shell doesn't crack.

This is your brain on concussions.

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