What contact sport is doing to our brains

ABC News Daily - A podcast by ABC

When you’re watching sport on a weekend, whether at a professional, amateur or even school level, you’ll always hear the crowd gasp if a player takes a blow to the head.  We know it’s not good for the brain, especially a child’s, but do we really understand the extent of the damage it can cause?  This week a Senate committee recommended a national strategy to reduce concussion in sport. Today, we speak to former AFL player Shaun Smith who has probable CTE, a brain disorder caused by repeated head knocks, and neuroscientist Dr Fatima Nasrallah about how we could make sport much safer.  Featured:  Shaun Smith, former AFL player Dr Fatima Nasrallah, neuroscientist at the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland.