Sport concussion in women: are they increasing, and are there long-term cumulative effects?

News emerged last week that AFLW player Jacinda Barclay, who died last year at age 29 following a short period of mental illness, had abnormalities in her brain tissue. Barclay was the first Australian contact sportswoman to have her brain donated to the Australian Sports Brain Bank, a medical laboratory that investigates changes in complex nerve structures after death, in order to understand brain conditions sustained by sportspeople. Similar to findings seen in some male athletes internationally, the researchers found changes in Barclay's white matter. White matter has to do with neural connectivity in the brain. As white matter degrades, as is...