Chris Nowinski, PhD, is co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization leading the fight against concussions and CTE and dedicated to improving the lives of those impacted. Dr. Nowinski earned his doctorate in Behavioral Neuroscience from Boston University School of Medicine and has authored more than 30 scientific publications. VICE Sports called him “the man most responsible for making CTE part of the national conversation,” and Sports Illustrated said, “It is Nowinski’s figure which looms behind the doctors and the headlines and the debate roiling over sports’ newfound commitment to minimizing head trauma''. Nowinski serves on the NFL Players Association Mackey-White Health & Safety Committee, the Ivy League Concussion Committee, the Positive Coaching Alliance National Advisory Board, and as an advisor to All-Elite Wrestling. Chris has received multiple awards for his advocacy. In 2019, the United States Sports Academy presented him with the Ernst Jokl Sports Medicine Award for his contributions to the growth and development of sport medicine through practice and/or scholarly activity. Chris has been the recipient of the Dr. Alan Ashare Safety Award from Massachusetts Hockey, the Impact Award from HealthSpottr, the Zach Lydstedt Angel Award from the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, the Distinguished Service Award from the United States Sports Academy, the Sport at its Best Award-Player Safety Advocate from Ralph Nader’s League of Fans, the CoBI Award from the Council on Brain Injury, the Patrick Brady Award from the Brain Injury Association of Illinois, a Compassionate Action Award from PETA, and the Presidential Medallion from Western New England College, the school’s highest honor. Dr. Nowinski is a frequent speaker on various aspects of brain trauma, and since 2004 he has spoken more than 400 times at universities, conferences, high schools, and sports organizations around the world.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a podcast from wor Now the WR Saturday
Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here's Larry Minty.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to Saturday Morning. Coming up on
today's show, After the Park Avenue mass shooting by a
madman who claimed he suffered from CTE, we talk with
Chris Nowinski, co founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation,
about the condition and if it could cause a person
to commit mass murder. The New Jersey governor's race is
(00:32):
tightening up according to the polls. Can we trust them?
We talk with doctor ben Jwarkin from Rowan University. With
AI taking jobs away, more and more high school graduates
are choosing tech schools like Lincoln Tech. We'll talk with
Scott Shaw, President and CEO of Lincoln Tech and are
(00:53):
you ready to use AI? At the drive through tech
expert Rich DeMuro tried it and loved it. We'll talk
to the host of Rich on Tech heard Sunday nights
from eight to eleven at night right here at WR.
Let's start with Chris Nowinski, co founder and CEO of
the Concussion Foundation, about the Park Avenue mass murderer who
(01:16):
claimed he had CTE. Chris, thanks so much for joining us.
Well appreciate your expertise today.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, thanks for talking about this difficult subject.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Well, let's talk about it first. What is the CTE?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
CT is a degenerative brain disease has a lot of
similarities to Alzheimer's, but you get it in your teens
or twenties while you're playing sports and getting repeated traumatic
brain injuries, and then it continues to spread throughout the
rest of your life. End the stage, it results in dementia,
usually in older age, and along the way people have
abnormal behaviors and changes to the way they think.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Chris, I know you played football both in high school
and in college, and you were a pro wrestler. Did
you suffer concussions?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I did, But it's important to note that there's no
time between number of concussions and CTE. Most of the
brain injuries that I suffered as a player were actually silent, asymptomatic,
and so one of the important things. I played eight
years of football, wrestled for three with the WW I'm
certainly at risk for this independent if I had concussions
diagnosed or not.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Is that right? So anybody can get CTE, it doesn't matter.
I thought it was completely tied to concussions and brain injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, it depends in a language you used. It is
tied to traumatic brain injuries. But we published a study
to help people understand this where we highlighted a different
study that showed for every one concussion that I might
have suffered in college, I had three hundred and forty
hits that were harder than that concussion. And what we
understand is that I couldn't feel one neuron dying, and
(02:43):
so those hard hits are probably causing microscopic we call
subclinical traumatic brain injury. And that's why when we study
this now a thousand people who were athletes, it's always
the people with the longer careers, the more hits, whether
or not they were diagnosed concussions that have CTE. And
so it's years of play which is a proxy for
(03:05):
hard hits, number and strength of hits that is driving
this and that is important note for everyone to know.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And a CTE how does it manifest itself? How does
it change one's behavior?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It depends in part because it is caused by injuries,
and so the original lesions and your prefernal cortex are
going to be a little different in everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I'm sure You've been looking very carefully because of your
expertise at the story of Shane Tamora, the shooter at
Park Avenue that killed for and injured another person. Does
it make sense that him having CTE would cause this violence.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
That's a difficult question answer, So I'll give you the
long answer, which is, you know, we've seen this before
there where these horrible things have happened. I think about
Philip Adams, former NFL player, who had thirty two, lost
his mind with leading journals it made no sense, and
then killed six strangers down the road, including two children.
He did have CTE and his frontal lobes are atrophying,
and you could make an argument and they're pathologist. Doctor
(04:04):
Avnicky did that the changes to his frontal lobe would
have unlocked this sort of crazy, you know, inappropriate social behavior.
We've also seen these happen where people's brains were normal, right,
so this this can happen. You know, ct is not
going to cause an act, but it is going to
make you more likely to have, you know, abnormal behaviors.
(04:26):
In the absence of this person's brain being studied, the
assumption is he just had, you know, some psychosis. You
know some you know who knows what he was diagnosed
with during life, and it may have nothing to do
with CT and he just focused on the CT as
part of his psychosis. That's one option. But another option
is he did have traumatic brain injuries through playing sports
(04:46):
and it did change him. And because that is possible,
and because in the big picture, certainly some of the
people who are who have had these abnormal behaviors, it
is TBI and CT driving it. That's why we need
to continue to raise awareness and try to prevent all
these unnecessary hits that are happening in these sports that
are causing this. And we have looked at the brains
of forty five former high school players who died before
(05:09):
thirty and fourteen to the forty five did have the disease.
This is a disease that you see in less than
one percent of the population. So the fact that families,
parents usually are able to spot it so well suggest
there is something you know related there.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, you just scared a lot of families and including me,
my son played college football. What do you do? How
do you get tested to see if you have CTE.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Well, that's the other big problem is that we can't
tested during life. You know, when we started the unit
Brain Bank in two thousand and eight Boston University CD Center,
there's the first academic center worldwide focused on this, And
so it takes decades to figure out how to diagnose
something during life. We're getting very close, but we can't.
And so, and I understand why you're concerned too. You know,
I'm concerned. We've already diagnosed my former roommate and the
(05:55):
captain of the Harvard football team from nineteen ninety nine,
Chrisitesman with CTE. He was the greatest guy in the
world until he developed a severe drinking problem that we
could not pull him out of. So it like if
you are a college player. You know, we're actually working
with a number of colleges to reach out to their
alumni and say, if you are concerned about yourself for
a loved one, get help the important messages. Help works.
(06:15):
But you know we should having this conversation with a
former player yesterday. It's a shame to find out after
your career you may have damaged your brain.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Chris, How do people get a hold of you? How
do people find out more about the Concussion Legacy Foundation?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Now go to Concussion Foundation dot org or on all
the social medias and especially we have a free helpline.
If you are concerned, go to CLF Helpline dot org
or Concussion Foundation dot org and ask for help and
we will find you a doctor, We'll find you support groups,
will help you get better. And the good news this
treatment does work, especially for these midlife symptoms.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Hey Chris, thank you for joining us today. Thank you
for what you do. Chris Nowinski, PhD, co founder and
CEO of Concussion Legacy Foundation and co founder of Unite
Rainbank at Boston University. Thanks again, sir. This has been
a podcast from wor
This is a podcast from wor Now the WR Saturday
Morning Show.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Here's Larry Minty.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, and welcome to Saturday Morning. Coming up on
today's show, After the Park Avenue mass shooting by a
madman who claimed he suffered from CTE, we talk with
Chris Nowinski, co founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation,
about the condition and if it could cause a person
to commit mass murder. The New Jersey governor's race is
(00:32):
tightening up according to the polls. Can we trust them?
We talk with doctor ben Jwarkin from Rowan University. With
AI taking jobs away, more and more high school graduates
are choosing tech schools like Lincoln Tech. We'll talk with
Scott Shaw, President and CEO of Lincoln Tech and are
(00:53):
you ready to use AI? At the drive through tech
expert Rich DeMuro tried it and loved it. We'll talk
to the host of Rich on Tech heard Sunday nights
from eight to eleven at night right here at WR.
Let's start with Chris Nowinski, co founder and CEO of
the Concussion Foundation, about the Park Avenue mass murderer who
(01:16):
claimed he had CTE. Chris, thanks so much for joining us.
Well appreciate your expertise today.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, thanks for talking about this difficult subject.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Well, let's talk about it first. What is the CTE?
Speaker 2 (01:27):
CT is a degenerative brain disease has a lot of
similarities to Alzheimer's, but you get it in your teens
or twenties while you're playing sports and getting repeated traumatic
brain injuries, and then it continues to spread throughout the
rest of your life. End the stage, it results in dementia,
usually in older age, and along the way people have
abnormal behaviors and changes to the way they think.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Chris, I know you played football both in high school
and in college, and you were a pro wrestler. Did
you suffer concussions?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I did, But it's important to note that there's no
time between number of concussions and CTE. Most of the
brain injuries that I suffered as a player were actually silent, asymptomatic,
and so one of the important things. I played eight
years of football, wrestled for three with the WW I'm
certainly at risk for this independent if I had concussions
diagnosed or not.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Is that right? So anybody can get CTE, it doesn't matter.
I thought it was completely tied to concussions and brain injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Well, it depends in a language you used. It is
tied to traumatic brain injuries. But we published a study
to help people understand this where we highlighted a different
study that showed for every one concussion that I might
have suffered in college, I had three hundred and forty
hits that were harder than that concussion. And what we
understand is that I couldn't feel one neuron dying, and
(02:43):
so those hard hits are probably causing microscopic we call
subclinical traumatic brain injury. And that's why when we study
this now a thousand people who were athletes, it's always
the people with the longer careers, the more hits, whether
or not they were diagnosed concussions that have CTE. And
so it's years of play which is a proxy for
(03:05):
hard hits, number and strength of hits that is driving
this and that is important note for everyone to know.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And a CTE how does it manifest itself? How does
it change one's behavior?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
It depends in part because it is caused by injuries,
and so the original lesions and your prefernal cortex are
going to be a little different in everybody.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I'm sure You've been looking very carefully because of your
expertise at the story of Shane Tamora, the shooter at
Park Avenue that killed for and injured another person. Does
it make sense that him having CTE would cause this violence.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
That's a difficult question answer, So I'll give you the
long answer, which is, you know, we've seen this before
there where these horrible things have happened. I think about
Philip Adams, former NFL player, who had thirty two, lost
his mind with leading journals it made no sense, and
then killed six strangers down the road, including two children.
He did have CTE and his frontal lobes are atrophying,
and you could make an argument and they're pathologist. Doctor
(04:04):
Avnicky did that the changes to his frontal lobe would
have unlocked this sort of crazy, you know, inappropriate social behavior.
We've also seen these happen where people's brains were normal, right,
so this this can happen. You know, ct is not
going to cause an act, but it is going to
make you more likely to have, you know, abnormal behaviors.
(04:26):
In the absence of this person's brain being studied, the
assumption is he just had, you know, some psychosis. You
know some you know who knows what he was diagnosed
with during life, and it may have nothing to do
with CT and he just focused on the CT as
part of his psychosis. That's one option. But another option
is he did have traumatic brain injuries through playing sports
(04:46):
and it did change him. And because that is possible,
and because in the big picture, certainly some of the
people who are who have had these abnormal behaviors, it
is TBI and CT driving it. That's why we need
to continue to raise awareness and try to prevent all
these unnecessary hits that are happening in these sports that
are causing this. And we have looked at the brains
of forty five former high school players who died before
(05:09):
thirty and fourteen to the forty five did have the disease.
This is a disease that you see in less than
one percent of the population. So the fact that families,
parents usually are able to spot it so well suggest
there is something you know related there.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Well, you just scared a lot of families and including me,
my son played college football. What do you do? How
do you get tested to see if you have CTE.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Well, that's the other big problem is that we can't
tested during life. You know, when we started the unit
Brain Bank in two thousand and eight Boston University CD Center,
there's the first academic center worldwide focused on this, And
so it takes decades to figure out how to diagnose
something during life. We're getting very close, but we can't.
And so, and I understand why you're concerned too. You know,
I'm concerned. We've already diagnosed my former roommate and the
(05:55):
captain of the Harvard football team from nineteen ninety nine,
Chrisitesman with CTE. He was the greatest guy in the
world until he developed a severe drinking problem that we
could not pull him out of. So it like if
you are a college player. You know, we're actually working
with a number of colleges to reach out to their
alumni and say, if you are concerned about yourself for
a loved one, get help the important messages. Help works.
(06:15):
But you know we should having this conversation with a
former player yesterday. It's a shame to find out after
your career you may have damaged your brain.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Chris, How do people get a hold of you? How
do people find out more about the Concussion Legacy Foundation?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Now go to Concussion Foundation dot org or on all
the social medias and especially we have a free helpline.
If you are concerned, go to CLF Helpline dot org
or Concussion Foundation dot org and ask for help and
we will find you a doctor, We'll find you support groups,
will help you get better. And the good news this
treatment does work, especially for these midlife symptoms.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Hey Chris, thank you for joining us today. Thank you
for what you do. Chris Nowinski, PhD, co founder and
CEO of Concussion Legacy Foundation and co founder of Unite
Rainbank at Boston University. Thanks again, sir. This has been
a podcast from wor
Popular Podcasts
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.