As Published - BikeTexas Today - Bike Smarts & Education - April - May 2004

In October 2003, two new studies were published that signify major advances in understanding how helmets can better prevent injuries. The journal Neurosurgery reported on ongoing research involving football players that establishes the impact threshold of concussions, a long-debated parameter. More data should be available soon from another study of Virginia Tech football players, whose helmets have been instrumented to provide impact readings during games. The second study, performed at Wayne State University, used new techniques to track targets within impacted cadaver heads to establish the dynamics of the brain's reaction to impacts. This research is a start in a new direction for understanding how brains are injured. Both studies should lead to better helmets and better helmet standards in coming years. -- from www.helmets.org.