About the speaker
Kristen Willeumier
Dr. Willeumier conducted her graduate research in the laboratory of Neurophysiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the laboratory of Neurogenetics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She received M.S. degrees in Physiological Science and Neurobiology and a Ph.D. degree in Neurobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was a postdoctoral scientist in the Department of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she continued her research in the field of neurodegenerative disease. She was the recipient of an NIH fellowship award from the National Institute of Mental Health and has presented her work internationally. She currently lives in Los Angeles, CA.
We have previously published research evaluating the effects of repetitive concussive and subconcussive impacts on the long-term brain function of professional NFL football players. Our results demonstrate that these players were not only contending with the lasting effects of traumatic brain injury, but also had a heightened prevalence of obesity, depression, attention, memory, and sleep issues leading to accelerated brain aging. Following a comprehensive, personalized, brain rehabilitation program which included multiple modalities to improve brain function we were able to demonstrate successful reversal of cognitive dysfunction and improvement in quality of life in a high percentage of athletes. With over 45 million children participating in organized sports in the U.S. along with 2.8 million individuals sustaining a traumatic brain injury annually, these protocols can be useful to clinicians in the chiropractic setting who routinely interface with these populations.
An Intro to the Topic:
We have previously published research evaluating the effects of repetitive concussive and subconcussive impacts on the long-term brain function of professional NFL football players. Our results demonstrate that these players were not only contending with the lasting effects of traumatic brain injury, but also had a heightened prevalence of obesity, depression, attention, memory, and sleep issues leading to accelerated brain aging. Following a comprehensive, personalized, brain rehabilitation program which included multiple modalities to improve brain function we were able to demonstrate successful reversal of cognitive dysfunction and improvement in quality of life in a high percentage of athletes. With over 45 million children participating in organized sports in the U.S. along with 2.8 million individuals sustaining a traumatic brain injury annually, these protocols can be useful to clinicians in the chiropractic setting who routinely interface with these populations.
