Research at Purdue shows athletes who have never been diagnosed with a concussion can still suffer lingering cognitive disability.
The Purdue University Neurotrauma Group has been examining the brains of high school football players over the past five seasons.
Biomedical engineering professor Tom Talavage says helmet sensors and sideline computers revealed that these athletes receive up to 1,800 hits to the head per season.
He says they seem to be particularly at risk at the start of the season, when they are getting back into the swing of things, and during post-season play, when practices and games are often more intense.
Talavage suggests conducting fewer contact drills during practices and instituting a baseball-style "hit count" that, when exceeded, automatically sidelines a player.
Purdue engineer Eric Nauman has developed new helmet and liner technology that reduces the impact to the brain by 50%.
He participated in the Healthy Kids and Safe Sports Concussion Summit at the White House today.