PSY 101 Blockbuster Project:

Concussion (Film)

By Micah Schuler

PSY 101: Concussion ● In the movie Concussion, Will Smith takes on the role of

forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. ● This story walks the viewer through Dr. Omalu’s studies

of why former NFL players are dying in similar fashions and had similar symptoms leading up to their deaths.

PSY 101: Concussion ● As his studies continue, Dr. Omalu realizes that all of the

players were dying from playing football. ● He comes to the conclusion that, due to the number of

hits the players sustained, with each hit their brains were slowly being broken down as a result of the blunt force of being hit.

● He then decides to share this information with other neurologists and his work is published in a major medical journal.

PSY 101: Concussion ● This disease is then given the name chronic traumatic

encephalopathy (CTE). ● Omalu then approaches the NFL with his findings and

persists to tell them until he is granted the opportunity to present his findings to all the coaches, team doctors, and NFL commissioner and officials.

● By the end of the film the NFL begins to set in place guidelines and procedures to try and ensure the player’s safety.

PSY 101: Concussion

● All of the deceased players brains shared the same types of “injuries.”

● All of the players, before their deaths, shared nearly all the same symptoms of varying degree.

● These symptoms included: schizophrenia, self mutilation, fear of random or abstract things, hearing voices in their heads, lack of sleep, anxiety, etc…

PSY 101: Concussion

● As each of the players’ brains were tested and studied, Omalu found that all the brains were seriously damaged due to repetitive blows to the head.

● Since the human skull has no “cushion” for when the brain moves, the brain has nothing to stop it from smashing into the wall of the skull.

● Unfortunately there is no way to give a living person the diagnosis of CTE. For this to be given, the person must be deceased and their brain must be examined.

● As far as treatments are concerned, the only method for one to avoid receiving CTE, is for that person to not be hit repeatedly in the head. There are no medicinal treatments or surgical methods that can cure this disease, as of yet.

● There is no method to reverse this condition.

PSY 101: Concussion

A Comparison Between A Normal Brain And A Brain With Advanced CTE

VS.

PSY 101: Concussion

References: Movie: Concussion (2015 film)Wikipedia search: Concussion (2015 film)Wikipedia search: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)Web search: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)