This young football player wasn't hurt badly, but researchers
say concussions among kids who play organized team sports are on
the rise. CREDIT: Susan Leggett | Dreamstime Teens may be more
vulnerable to the effects of concussions than either adults or
younger children, a new study says. In the study, teens had
larger impairments on tests of working memory — the ability to
process and store short-term information in the brain, which is
needed for learning — six months after they suffered a
concussion compared with adults and children. The region of the
brain responsible for working memory, known as the frontal lobe,
undergoes a growth spurt during adolescence, making it more
fragile and susceptible to the effects of concussions, said
study researcher David Ellemberg, a professor of kinesiology at
the University of Montréal in Quebec. Deficits in working memory
can impair a person's ability do everyday things, such as
multitasking, Ellemberg said. The study is published today (Feb.
28) in the journal Brain Inj