Concussions and Magnets

Guest: Dr. Ray Colello, Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine  The National Football League is negotiating a settlement with 5,000 former players who accuse the NFL of hiding the dangers of concussions. Efforts to address the problem of football head injuries has fallen along two lines – educating players and coaches about the danger of concussion and redesigning helmets to better protect players. Dr. Colello believes magnets might be a better answer than adding more padding to a football helmet.  “We’re not talking about putting the magnets on the outside of the helmet, but on the inside by the polycarbonated shell,” says Colello. This reduces the linear forces and extends the time impact takes place.