A 37-year-old male active-duty special operator was referred to me a few years ago who described an intangible feeling of slowing down, particularly in more visually stimulating environments. He was preparing for his retirement, and finally had time to start addressing some issues he ignored or “rubbed dirt on” throughout his career. There was no… Continue reading An Intangible Slowing Down
Author: Dani Fennerty
Blast Exposures and Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease
Subconcussive head trauma are sufficient in increasing vulnerability to developing young onset Parkinson’s Disease. [1] This includes subconcussive blast exposures. [2] There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s Disease. Current medical strategy is to decrease the impact it has on quality of life. As a Physical Therapist I’ve been part of healthcare teams doing that… Continue reading Blast Exposures and Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease
How to Own Chaos
A distinct characteristic of the tactical athlete is the ability to perform in extreme and unpredictable environments. The job demands the ability to maintain speed and precision of execution under conditions of chaos. One component vital for this capability is processing speed. I think of required processing speed as the change in sensory stimulus divided… Continue reading How to Own Chaos
Keeping Target Focus with Movement
If the ability to maintain target focus with movement is important to you, you want to know about the vestibular system. It is one thing to keep a target in focus when stationary but maintaining that ability with movement is a much higher skill level. This is because when stationary there is significantly less demand… Continue reading Keeping Target Focus with Movement
How Subconcussions Can Impact Mental Health
Unique to tactical athletes is the volume of subconcussive forces they are exposed to, particularly subconcussive blast exposures. These exposures have been associated with later life depression, apathy, and poor emotional control. [1-3] Mental and emotional health is, unfortunately, still a touchy subject for many. While there are many factors that influence mental health, repeated… Continue reading How Subconcussions Can Impact Mental Health
Acceleration/Deceleration Subconcussive Impacts
One mechanism of subconcussive injury is that of rapid acceleration/deceleration. This is called a coup contre-coup injury. We often focus only on the mechanism of direct hits to the head as important head trauma and solutions often only focus on that mechanism. We find the best helmets for football, stop heading soccer balls, and create… Continue reading Acceleration/Deceleration Subconcussive Impacts
Havana Syndrome: An Attack on Situational Awareness Capability
Recently the Director of the CIA has told Russia that if they are behind the multiple attacks on US personnel using what is suspected as directed energy, there would be “consequences”. [1] Havana Syndrome is the term used for the concussion-like symptoms the victims of these suspected attacks experience. These symptoms include dizziness, unsteadiness, cognitive… Continue reading Havana Syndrome: An Attack on Situational Awareness Capability
What You Should Prioritize After Subconcussive Exposure
The one thing you should prioritize after known subconcussive exposure is sleep. Subconcussions are head impacts that don’t result in clinical symptoms, but there is subtle neuro-inflammation post subconcussive exposure. [1-2] Sleep can be a touchy subject for tactical athletes. You know the importance of sleep, but your sleep deprivation is often outside of your… Continue reading What You Should Prioritize After Subconcussive Exposure
Processing Speed- The Audiovisual Temporal Binding Window
When in a highly stimulating environment it is important to filter the stimuli and determine what is important and where it is coming from. Doing this quickly is vital for quick reactions and high performance, particularly in the tactical community. This goes back to fast reactions requiring 3 steps: input, processing, output. The processing step… Continue reading Processing Speed- The Audiovisual Temporal Binding Window
Look Away- The High Level Skill of Anti-Saccades
Quick eye movements away from a stimulus are called anti-saccades. We innately want to quickly move our eyes toward a stimulus (toward a sound or light), therefore anti-saccades require higher level of processing and skill to suppress the reflexive movement and create an eye movement away from the stimulus. The ability to do so quickly… Continue reading Look Away- The High Level Skill of Anti-Saccades