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Department of Psychology

Department of Psychology

George Spilich

George Spilich

John Toll Professor of Psychology

E-mail: gspilich2@washcoll.edu
Phone: (800) 422-1782, ext. 7734
Office: Toll Science NG05

With the discovery of a neurodegenerative disease in a number of athletes who have recently died, doctors see sports-related brain trauma as a growing health crisis. The condition, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is caused by repetitive trauma to the brain.

Professor George Spilich, a psychologist who specializes in neurodamage and cognitive function, has been working with departmental colleagues and students at Washington College to better understand the cumulative effects of concussion, and to make a case for better head protection for college athletes.

Even without a football program, Spilich says, Washington College students are not immune to the occasional head injury or concussion. One student on the lacrosse team was hit hard enough to see stars eight times. Concerned for his welfare, the coach permanently sidelined him.

"We are looking at students who have had previous head injuries—everything from auto accidents and snowboarding incidents to slipping on the bathroom floor," says Spilich. "The magic number seems to be four. After four concussions, we are seeing a difference in the brain's ability to manage information and short-term memory."

Coaches at Washington College are very interested in these research findings, which Spilich and department chair Lauren Littlefield will present at the APA conference in New York City in March. Spilich thinks health professionals, sports organizations and educational policymakers will be equally interested.

"We know that football and lacrosse players are at greater risk of concussion," says Spilich. "Snowboarders and whitewater rafters now routinely wear protective headgear. We're asking similar questions about soccer—wouldn't light helmets reduce the number of concussions among soccer players?"

Spilich and Littlefield intend to approach helmet manufacturers when their research is more complete to seek out support for additional research that would include students as co-investigators.

"Our department has always been ahead of the curve," says Spilich, recalling that Washington College was one of the first undergraduate institutions in the country to offer a program in behavioral neuroscience. He cites previous research on the cognitive effects of smoking, a traffic study using Eye Gaze technology to measure cognitive function of impaired drivers, and his latest project investigating new ways to teach organic chemistry based on visual-spatial processing.

We can't compete with the major research universities by throwing a swarm of graduate students at the problem; what we can do is out-think them. "I view myself as a small but agile mammal among the slow and ponderous dinosaurs. I try to figure out where the road will lead in two years and then get there ahead of the pack."

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