His book “The Ghost in My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get it Back,” based on 1,200 pages of detailed notes, documents his concussion experience from the moment of impact to his remarkable recovery almost a decade later.
“Concussion is an epidemic in the United States, with more than 5,000 cases reported each day and 6 million identified as living with the long-term effects of brain damage,” he said, citing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The movie ‘Concussion’ has raised the national discussion about concussion, but only touches on the tip of the iceberg. Concussion can happen to anyone. It can be a catastrophic injury, affecting us down to the very core of our ability to think, and sometimes, leaving us feeling alienated from the rest of the human race,” he said.
The movie, described by Sony Pictures as a “dramatic thriller” is the story of a neuropathologist’s discovery of a football-related brain trauma known as CTE — chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
“We have a cheap simple neuro-optometric test available to us that could provide a great deal of information about concussion at all levels of sport ... but we aren’t using it,” Elliott said.
“Recent research suggests that for every sports concussion we know about, five more go undetected, raising the horrifying specter of our young athletes continuing to play with brain injury. Using simple reading tests such as King-Devick, and other cheap instruments we can detect the majority of these potentially horrendous injuries. The key is baseline testing of not just those who receive injuries, but all athletes before, and then during the season, with traditional follow-up when indicated.
“Using this critical information, along with a basic understanding of the potentially catastrophic consequences of brain injury, parents, college athletes, and professionals should be free to make their own choices about their futures,” he said.
Elliott earned his doctorate at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. His research area is artificial intelligence models of emotion. He teaches AI and cognitive science at DePaul University, and founded the nation’s first graduate program in distributed systems.
Elliott has done more than 60 TV and radio interviews since his book was published in June 2015. A listing of those interviews, along with his background, endorsements and reader comments are online at http://ClarkElliott.com.
A video illustrating his interview style is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSPkvn4eLkE.
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