In collision sports like American football or rugby, the real threat is no longer just the big concussion that stops the match, but the hundreds of micro-shocks that accumulate silently. For each diagnosed concussion, researchers estimate between 125 and 440 head acceleration events, with some players sustaining as many as 77 impacts in a single season. Hence the attention around this infrared light helmet tested on 26 high-level players.
Repeated shocks and risks for the brain: how to protect athletes?
Doctors speak of “repeated head acceleration events”: brief jerks, sometimes without direct contact with the skull, which cause a neuroinflammation and axonal micro-lesions. Over the years, this stress is associated with an increased risk ofchronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)already found in more than 100 former NFL players after their death. Symptoms range from memory problems to depression to early dementia.
More efficient helmets, concussion protocols, modified rules: sport has changed a lot, without succeeding in neutralizing this “invisible epidemic”. Everything still depends on the fact, once the damage has started. The idea of proactive protection of the brain, usable in training as well as in season, is therefore becoming central to the debate which is also agitating American football and rugby.
An infrared light helmet to strengthen neurological resilience
The track studied is called transcranial photobiomodulation. Concretely, the medical device Vielight Neuro Gamma is presented as an arch equipped with four near-infrared light LEDs (810 nm) placed on the skull, supplemented by a small intranasal probe. The LEDs emit pulses at 40 hertz, believed to pass through the bone and reach key areas of the brain involved in memory and motor control. Unlike cosmetic and consumer red light therapy devices, this is a patented, medical-grade system targeting brain tissue.
The researchers summarize the mechanism in three main possible actions:
- Boost the energy of neurons by stimulating the mitochondria;
- Improve blood flow and oxygen supply to weakened tissues;
- Modulate the inflammatory response to limit lasting damage after impacts.
This unconventional therapy involves projecting powerful near-infrared light onto the brain through the skull. It could prevent or alleviate insidious brain damage even before symptoms appear, by reducing inflammation caused by repeated impacts. According to the researchers and previous studies, sufficiently intense infrared light is able to penetrate the skull and reach the outer surface of the brain, although only a small portion of the initial light reaches there. Additionally, previous research in human cells and animal models has demonstrated that certain wavelengths can decrease the levels of specific molecules linked to inflammation.
What the American study on the Vielight Neuro Gamma helmet really shows
The essay published in the Journal of Neurotrauma followed 26 NCAA Division I American football players, randomly distributed between an “active helmet” group and a placebo group with the same helmet but without light. All self-administered the treatment for 20 minutes, three times a week, for 16 weeks. Diffusion MRIs were performed before and after the season to monitor two markers (one for inflammation and one related to white matter fiber stress).
- In players who received the placebo, brain inflammation increased over the course of the season. Specifically, MRIs performed at the end of the season revealed significantly greater signs of inflammation than those performed at the beginning of the season.
- On the other hand, in players who used the active near-infrared light device, brain inflammation did not increase during the season, with even decreases in certain regions outside the “cone of vulnerability” to shock.
“My first reaction was: ‘There’s no way that’s true’, it was so striking“, says Hannah Lindsey, doctor of neurology and first author cited by the University of Utah Health.
© Hannah Lindsey, PhD.
False-color brain images showing the average change in inflammation between the start and end of the season in the group that received the placebo treatment. Red corresponds to the greatest increase in inflammation.
Preliminary but promising results
These results remain preliminary: only 26 young men, only one season, baseline differences between groups, and no direct measures of memory, mood or dementia risk. The team is also preparing a controlled trial on 300 people with after-effects of head trauma, funded by the Department of Defense.
For Carrie Esopenko, doctor of neurology and associate professor at the University of Utah, “We have long sought to make sport safer, so that our children, friends and families can practice it safely and sustainably, while engaging in activities that bring them happiness and joy. And this really represents part of the hope that we had in terms of brain protection“.
It remains to be seen whether, tomorrow, this infrared light helmet will find its place in professional or amateur rugby locker rooms.