Monday marked a historic day in the history of concussion and brain injury research, as the first-ever brain bank for women was announced during a conference at the National Institute of Health.
The brain bank — which is a partnership between the National PTSD Brain Bank and Pink Concussions, a nonprofit focused on improving education and treatment of women and girls suffering from brain injuries — represents a major step forward in this field of research. The vast majority of studies on brain injuries have been done on male brains, despite the fact that studies show that women and girls suffer from concussions at a higher rate than men, and have a more extensive period of recovery time.
In fact, there have only been two peer-reviewed journal articles on chronic traumatic encephalopathy that addressed female CTE, and both came in the early 1990s — and both women’s brains were included in the studies by accident. Most of the studies about CTE are focused solely on male football and hockey players.
“Women have long been the invisible patients in health care. In recent months, society has seen a cultural paradigm shift where women are speaking out with a new voice. The PINK Concussion Pledge is a part of that positive change,” Katherine Snedaker, the founder and executive director of PINK Concussions, said in a press release.
PINK Concussions and the National PTSD Brain Bank will work together to actively recruit women over the age of 18 to donate their brains to TBI and PTSD research. Many TBI-related studies can only be done posthumously, which is why it’s important to get people to agree to donate their brains to research when they are still alive, but it takes a concentrated effort to spread the word that these pledges are needed.
In 2016, retired women’s soccer legend Brandi Chastain announced that when she passes away, her brain would be donated to the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) at Boston University. At that time, only seven of the 307 brains at the CLF were from women.
“This would be a more substantial legacy — something that could protect and save some kids, and to enhance and lift up soccer in a way that it hasn’t before,” Chastain told the New York Times last year. “That was the impetus for saying yes. If we can learn something, we should. And I won’t need it.”
This #PINKbrainPledge, as the organizers are calling it, is going to focus on recruiting women with a history of TBI and PTSD — particularly veterans, victims of domestic violence, and current and former athletes.
Dr. Jessica Schwartz, a physical therapist and concussion advocate who serves as the Program Director for Evidence in Motion Concussion Management, told ThinkProgress that this brain bank is a colossal step forward for those who suffer from and treat brain injuries in women.
“This announcement today will directly impact the way in which we care for our patients of tomorrow and that directly impacts our future daughters and grandchildren for all of her neurological health needs across the lifespan,” Schwartz said.