A woodpecker's spongy skull acts like a shock absorber. Its long tongue pinches the jugular vein, increasing blood pressure in the head, so cushioning the bird's brain from the impact of hammering on trees up to 12,000 times a day, every day.
Humans do not enjoy the same protection, and it's causing long-term damage to athletes who are involved in contact-heavy sports such as boxing, rugby, football and American football, where hard blows to the head and multiple concussions have been linked to a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
CTE has been linked to depression, memory loss, dementia and suicide, and makes the brains of 45-year-old retired athletes look like those of 90-year-old Alzheimer's patients. Even the NFL, which spent a decade in denial, has now acknowledged the dangers - and participation levels in American football at youth level have plummeted as fearful parents direct their children towards safer activities.
A woodpecker-inspired solution is one of many that could help save contact sport. The Q-Collar, developed by US-based Q30 Innovations, is worn around the neck. It lightly constricts the jugular vein - similar to the woodpecker's tongue, with the aim of replicating the cushioning effect. The VICIS helmet for American football takes a different approach - its inner layers consist of columns which compress and deform on impact, absorbing blows like a car bumper.
In 2017, wearable tech will determine exactly what kinds of impact are most likely to cause concussion. One study of footballers used a sensor called the xPatch, which is stuck to the skin behind the right ear, while other sensors have been built into American football helmets, fabric headbands and rugby scrum caps, or concealed inside mouthguards.
Rather than the brute force of an impact, it is now thought to be the rotation and acceleration that determines the severity of a concussion. Willie Stewart, one of the world's leading experts in traumatic brain injury, demonstrates this using a piece of Blu-Tack: if you pull it apart slowly, it stretches; but make a short, sharp tug, and it will snap.
Over time, proteins from these broken neurons in the brain form abnormal clumps and tangles that are the hallmark of CTE. Currently, the disease can only be detected in deceased patients - the process involves staining slices of the brain with a dye that adheres to the abnormal proteins. However, a small pilot study has found an injectable tracer that could fulfil the same function in living people, and be picked up in a scanner. These signs could appear in the brain before any behavioural symptoms begin to manifest - providing the opportunity to take at-risk athletes out of the firing line. Genetic screening is another possibility on that front - the brains of people with a gene called ApoE4 take longer to clear a protein called amyloid, which builds up following a concussion. Boxers with a copy of this gene performed worse on tests of cognitive impairment than those with a similar length career, but without the gene.
Playing on through concussion can exacerbate the risk of long-term problems. So, it's vital that concussed athletes are removed from the field of play immediately, and that they don't return to action too soon. Pitch-side diagnosis usually relies on baseline testing. Players complete a cognitive assessment at the start of the season, and then in the wake of a suspected concussion, a team doctor tests them to see if their score has deteriorated. Apps have been developed for tablets to help administer and track baseline tests, but they remain a clumsy measure that's easy for stubborn athletes to manipulate.
A blood test can't be manipulated, and that's a possibility offered by Stewart's research at Glasgow's Southern General hospital. His lab has discovered that when neurons die, they release a protein called SNTF. Levels of SNTF in the blood in the days after a concussion could provide a more accurate assessment of when an injured athlete is ready to return to play.
Reducing the number of head impacts is vital for contact sports that wish to have a future. Rule tweaks have helped - the NFL reduced concussions by 13 per cent between 2011 and 2012 by pushing kick-offs back by five yards, while US Soccer has banned heading of the ball before the age of 13. But it is technology that could have the greatest impact. Computer and tablet-based training tools can help train athletes in a virtual environment, without putting their bodies and brains in physical danger. "We can train the athlete without the odometer running," says Jason Sada, whose company Axon Sports has developed iPad-based cognitive training tools for American football, rugby and baseball.
Concussions can never be entirely eliminated from sport. For Stewart - a committed rugby fan - his work is about helping people make an informed decision. "We may find that, actually, your risk of dementia doubles by playing football or rugby at a high level," he says. "But is that a risk worth taking if the flip side is that your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is halved?"
Amit Katwala is the author ofThe Athletic Brain (Simon & Schuster)
The WIRED World in 2017 is WIRED's fifth annual trends briefing, predicting what's coming next in the worlds of technology, science and design
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
