299. "How Much Brain Damage Do I Have?"

Stephen Dubner had an idea for a new project. So he drove to Connecticut and knocked on the door of the master. Dubner’s new TV talk show Better in Person launches July 14 on the Freakonomics YouTube channel. SOURCES: Dick Cavett, writer, former talk show host. RESOURCES: Eye on ... Show More

Dartmouth president Sian Beilock, a psychologist by training, made her name studying why people choke. Now she’s applying those insights to one of the most scrutinized jobs in America. No pressure! SOURCES: Sian Beilock, president of Dartmouth College. RESOURCES: "Growing share o ... Show More

It’s a hard time to run a university: public trust is low, political pressure is high, and finances are fragile. But Daniel Diermeier, who trained as a political scientist, has Vanderbilt humming. How? He says the key is choosing magnets over wedges. SOURCES: Daniel Diermeier, ch ... Show More

What’s your passion? That one thing that gets you out of bed in the morning? For John Urschel, it’s two things: football and math. Urschel followed the football path first, playing in college at Penn State and eventually for the Baltimore Ravens. But during his time in the NFL, h ... Show More

Dr. Shuvro Roy talks with Dr. Monica T. Ly about brain lesions in former football players linked to vascular brain changes. Read the related article in Neurology. Disclosures can be found at Neurology.org. 

<p>Former Baltimore Ravens linebacker, John Urschel, lived a double-life. On the field, he was a celebrated football player, starting out at Penn State before turning pro and playing in the NFL. But, off the field, a profoundly different, yet equally powerful passion and lifelong ... Show More

<p>Concussions are bad enough for football players, but research has found all of those smaller hits can add up to massive brain trauma later in life too, leading to a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition the NFL sought to cover up.</p><p> </p> Learn mor ... Show More

What is killing young athletes at the peak of physical performance? A medical bank of over 1,000 brains and 30 years of study shine a spotlight on the cause  Dr Ann McKee is a world-renowned neurologist and the Director of Boston University’s CTE and Alzheimer’s Disease Research ... Show More

In the first part of our two-part series on neurodegeneration in professional football players, Dr. Shuvro Roy talks with Dr. Ann McKee about the high incidence and mortality rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in NFL athletes. For more information on the VA-BU-CLF Brain ... Show More

<p><i>Warning: this episode contains mentions of suicide.</i></p><p>A recently released study from researchers at Boston University examined the brains of 152 contact-sport athletes who died before turning 30. They found that more than 40 percent of them had chronic traumatic enc ... Show More

Today, we're going in depth on traumatic brain injuries. James Tytko speaks with Dawn Astle, daughter of former England striker Jeff Astle, about the finding that his death was linked to head trauma sustained during his playing career. Also, Prof Peter Hutchinson gives an overvie ... Show More

In this episode, I discuss brain injury and how it affects the brain, physical abilities, cognition and behaviour. There is a particular focus on traumatic brain injury and how concussion in sport is an area receiving interest from researchers. I interview Brodie Ingham who has i ... Show More