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6 Headlines “I went looking for answers and couldn’t find any good research on the cumulative impacts of head knocks and how to recover, so selfishly I decided to do a PhD on it.” The MRI machine at the Mātai Medical Research Institute, which is far more powerful than a hospital MRI. DR JOSH MCGEOWN Former club rugby, American football and icehockeyplayer, andneuroscientist Sitting alongside Helen’s study of post-mortem brain tissue, Dr Josh McGeown is part of a team collecting real-time data from rugby players to advance our understanding of how repetitive head impacts might change the brain over time. He is based at the Matai Research Institute in Gisborne. Players from the 1st and 2nd XVs at Gisborne Boys’ High School have agreed to take part in the study. Using advanced imaging techniques, Dr McGeown has been scanning their brains at the beginning, middle, and end of the season to pick up any subtle injuries, and is wrapping up his second season of data collection. The project is jointly funded by the Neurological Foundation, the Hugh Green Foundation, an HRC Explorer Grant and an anonymous donor. “The school, the players and their families have gotten completely behind everything we're doing, which is basically trying to answer the question, ‘does a season of hits to the head from participating in rugby change the brain, even in the absence of a clinically-diagnosed mild traumatic brain injury or concussion? So, how did those little knocks pile up over time?’” All players wear mouthguards that are fitted with sensors to record both gentle and significant head impacts during training and games. The MRI images and mouthguard data are then analysed side-by-side. “While some players might be diagnosed with concussion during the season, mouthguard data will help understand if other players still experienced changes related from minor head knocks,” Josh says. “It means we can go beyond just the brain imaging, to look at an individual player or certain aspects of gameplay." Josh’s research will focus on whether we can ‘see’ changes in the brain resulting from mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBIs). The outcomes will interest Josh on both a professional and personal level. Originally from Canada, he estimates he sustained around 18 concussions and countless mTBIs playing rugby, ice hockey, and American football. “I went looking for answers and couldn’t find any good research on the cumulative impacts of head knocks, and how to recover, so selfishly I decided to do a PhD on it,” he says. Two years ago he relocated to Gisborne-Tairāwhiti to the Mātai Research Institute – a small but growing not-for-profit medical imaging research facility. A drawcard was the cutting-edge scanning technology found at Mātai, which houses a state-of-the-art GE 3-TeslaMRI machine. The preliminary data from Josh’s study suggests one season of rugby may be related to changes in the brain of a young person. “But that’s not the whole result. The real question is, what does recovery look like? We need to evaluate things like, if the player takes four or eight weeks off, then do things start going back to normal? “With better evidence and data, we can work with coaches, referees and unions to identify aspects of the game that are most strongly associated with mitigating risk and maximising benefit. “My focus is the solutions. And telling people you can’t play sport is not a solution.”