Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Eli Manning suffered a head wound after having his helmet knocked off in the 2010 pre-season game against the Jets. (Photo borrowed from here.)

 Even if you are not a football fan, you may have heard on the news that Denver Broncos wide receiver Kenny McKinley committed suicide last week. He was only 23. From interviews of his teammates and coach Jeff McDaniels, it seems that McKinley was not the suicidal type. They recalled him as being thoughtful, and funny, appreciative and always having a smile on his face. His family was equally shocked. So the question is of course, why did he do it? And maybe more importantly, why didn't anyone notice something was wrong?

It is just a coincidence, but I was doing a little reading up on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a degradation of brain tissue as a result of repeated blows to the head. It is rapidly becoming a major area of concern in the NFL, and that is where I first herd the term CTE for short. Several past players including Lou Creekmur of the Detroit Lions were diagnosed post-mortem with CTE (see photo). And recent findings are questioning whether baseball great Lou Gehrig may have actually died of CTE. It may be Lou Gehrig maybe didn't die of Lou Gehrig's Disease after all.

Photo of portion of Lou Creekmur's brain. Brown areas indicate deposits of tau proteins. Photo borrowed from CSTE Website.

I am no neurologist, but from what I gather, the basic idea is that when a head gets knocked around too much actual brain tissue gets replaced with Tau proteins which are supposed to stabilize microtubules that are found in neurons which make up the brain. So the whole organ becomes more stable in the cranium, but portions of the functioning brain are sacrificed in the process. This creates symptoms like dementia, and aggression, confusion, memory loss and sometimes unsolicited violence.

On the Wikipedia site for CTE, I read that as recently as this year a 21 year old linemen from the University of Pennsylvania, Owen Thomas, committed suicide for unknown reasons. His autopsy revealed elevated abundances of the Tau protein in his brain. It is believed that those early signs of CTE may have had more to do with his hanging himself, and less to do with whatever was actually going on in his life. He is the youngest documented case of CTE.

I was immediately struck by the similarity between the deaths of Thomas and McKinley, and wonder whether or not anyone has thought CTE could be cause of his untimely death. Of course those closer to him might have reason to suspect he was depressed or whatever, but if they are truly mystified, them CTE could explain it. I don't know if they are having an autopsy performed on him, and you wouldn't think a wide receiver would have sustained that many head injuries as say a linebacker or center, but I mean it is football, and I would think it would be worth investigating. If they did happen to find that he had accumulations of Tau proteins, then...shoot, well, the implications of that would be staggering to the NFL and all the players. And as much as I LOVE football, if it's killing young guys who have barely played in a game, then think of what it's doing to the veterans, guys that have been playing for 10 or more years!
Of course this is all speculation, and I am not a doctor, or a biologist even, so I am really not an expert, but it's just a thought.

Anyway, as I mentioned above the NFL is taking  CTE very seriously. So are the players. In 2009 Matt Burk, center for the Ravens, Lofa Tatupu linebacker for Seattle, and Sean Morey a receiver who last played with the Cardinals were the first to pledged to donate their brains to the Center for the Study of  Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy after they die. This year many other NFL players have followed suit.

I can't help but wonder how, or if, this problem can even be resolved in the NFL. Football is inherently a violent sport, and hard on the body. As long as there is tackling going on, heads are going to get hit and helmets are going to fly. But if you remove the dangers that bring about CTE, you're be left with a very boring, very cautious game that doesn't resemble football at all. So what do you do?

Dogs and Indians

I don't know why but it's suddenly gotten very hot here. The whole summer was cool with foggy mornings, but things have heated up. I thought this is what you'd call an Indian Summer, but after looking it up, I believe the more accurate term would be that we are in the "dog days" of summer. The dog part apparently refers to the dog star Sirius (in Canis Major), and it hangs out in the sky in August and September, when it typically is the hottest.
An Indian summer occurs after the leaves have turned and the first killing frost has passed, but before the first snowfall, usually in October or November. Either way it's a' roasting out there!

Poly Wanna Math?

Polymath: A person who's expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.
Examples: Leonardo DaVinci, Sir Isaac Newton, most of the really old Greek dudes.

Spermaceti...It's Not What You Think

I was reading a really interesting article about ancient ocean predators, the giant Leviathans and Megalodons, and came across the the mysterious substance of spermaceti.
Spermaceti is a waxy substance found in large cavities within the heads of whales. It was originally thought to be actual sperm hence the name (and the origin of how sperm whales got their name also).
It was used in the past as an ingredient for cosmetics (I may never wear lipstick again) and candles.
The interesting thing to me about it is that no one knows what it's purpose is. My first thought was that it has something to do with buoyancy control, but it appears that scientist already thought of that, and it's not the best fitting hypothesis but it's still a possibility. But what else could a head of wax be good for? I can't imagine.
It must do something though. For it to have such a prominent position in the head, and to be present in such large quantities tells you something. (We just aren't sure what yet.)
If anyone figures it out please let me know:)

Learning the Lingo

The new book I am reading is all about blue crabs, and it's really interesting so far. I thought I'd pass along a little crab terminology, just in case you ever find yourself talking to a waterman on Chesapeake Bay and don't want to sound like an crustacean novice.

carcinology

the branch of zoology that studies crustaceans. — carcinologist, n. — carcinologic, carcinological, adj.

Sook
Female blue crab that is mature

Jimmy
Male blue crab that is mature

doublers
When during mating the male carries the freshly molted female under his body.

autotomy
the spontaneous casting off of a limb or other body part, such as the tail of some lizards or the claws of lobsters and crabs when the animal is injured or under atack

Stud Muffin Defined

Stud Muffin: stud·muf·fin [ stúd mùffin ] (plural stud·muf·fins) A category of male attractiveness where stud refers to the anatomical equivalence in stature and form (often exaggerated) of the male reproductive apparatus to that of the Equus genus (See: "hung like a horse"), which implies a higher than average sperm count and a lower than average chance of unsightly offspring. And where muffin is utilized as a metaphore for the (generally erroneous) belief held by females that the stud can be persuaded, primarily through sex, into culinary domestication, foot massages and discussions of personal feelings.

What in the Hell is a Spandrel?

Spandrel: 1.) is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure.

What does that have to do with anything you might wonder? Well, for some reason I have heard that word crop up again and again in discussions on evolutionary theory. In it's technical sense, spandrel refers to the space created (unintentionally) when the actual physical structure of an arc is formed. But what it represents when used in the context of evolutionary theory is more along the lines of:

Spandrel: 2.) a trait created unintentionally, as the result of some other trait which has evolutionary value. (Note: This is not an official definition, it is just the definition as I understand it to be.)

Using the architectural example the spandrel (space between wall and arch) has no value, and doesn't do anything besides allow the arc to be the shape necessary to form it's function. The evolutionary parallel is a trait/quality that was seemingly developed "by accident" or as a byproduct of some more useful trait. For example, the brain did not evolve to a larger size to accommodate language. But as a result of a larger brain (i.e. the arc) language (the spandrel) was able to develop.

Electro-what?

I came across this word while reading an article and had no idea what it meant. I had to look it up so I thought I would pass it along.

Electroencephalography:

is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp produced by the firing of neurons within the brain.

Three Degrees of Stupidity

Would you rather be called an idiot or a moron? Neither probably, but surprisingly there is (or was originally) a substantial difference between the two. The words were invented by an American psychologist (and eugenicist) Henry H. Goddard as a means of classifying degrees of mental incompetency.
The scale is as follows (in my own words not H.H. Goddards. He was a little more..er..technical than I am):

Idiot: IQ 0-25, with 0 being a hula hoop. Mentally you are somewhere between a rock and a hard place...literally. This is the worst of the worst, the bottom of the barrel. If you are an idiot then you might to learn how to tie your shoes but most likely you'll just end up trying to eat them. If you were smart enough to list your favorite things to do drooling would be at the top followed closely by watching Melrose Place.

Imbicile: IQ 26-50, The good news is you aren't an idiot. The bad news is you are still an imbicile. You might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but at least you can learn how to use one. If evolution worked according to mental capacity you'd be somewhere between a lab rat and a golden retriever (both of which are better groomed than you).

Moron: IQ 51-70, You are the highest of the low if you fall into this category. When someone calls you a moron, you say with pride "Well, at least I am not an imbicile." You (being a moron) think it's a compliment but the rest of us know it's not. It's like being employee of the month at a company that specializes in scrubbing poop stains out of carpet, or being the champion of a hot dog eating contest (both of which morons are good at by the way). Sure you are the best, but is that really a good thing? Bottom line is you aren't smart enough to work a dishwasher but you can whip a five year old's ass at Connect Four, (and are damn proud of it).