This report was brought to my attention by Matt Chaney, it details a study of former NFL’ers;
Unusual activity in the frontal lobe, observed in former National Football League (NFL) players as they carried out a cognitive test, matched records for heavy blows they had received to the head while on the field.
“The NFL alumni showed some of the most pronounced abnormalities in brain activity that I have ever seen,” said lead author Adam Hampshire, a neuroscientist at Imperial College London.
“(The) level of brain abnormality correlates strongly with the measure of head impacts of great enough severity to warrant being taken out of play.
“It is highly likely that damage caused by blows to the head accumulate towards an executive impairment in later life.”
NFL games have come under growing scrutiny for what critics say is a dangerous rate of concussions after hard blows to the head.
Some have drawn links between the on-field physical traumas and later neurological problems such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, which in turn have been blamed for depression and suicide.
The new study does not find evidence of disease, but highlights brain areas that may have been affected by repeated, severe impacts. And it says standard tests do not pick up this subtle damage.
This has been reported on by several “non-sports” media outlets but I cannot find it on a link to a popular sports news source, if you have let us know in the comments… This link is from ABC, Australia…
Here is a LINK to the full text, titled: Hypoconnectivity and Hyperfrontality in Retired American Football Players.
The Concussion Blog 
Dustin,
Functions and some impairments of damage to the Frontal and Occipital lobes. — from headinjury.com
Both brain areas are mentioned due to the coup – contre coup effect of the bouncing and ricocheting brain from the front to the back of the brain that may occur from direct impact or whiplash-like forces to the body.
The various brain functions adversely impacted by damage to these brain areas demonstrate the need for thorough cognitive, emotion and visual assessments after a person suffers a concussion..
Frontal Lobes —
Functions:
Located, right under the forehead (anterior)
the frontal lobes are involved in tracking and sense of self. Additionally, they’re involved in arousal and initiations well as consciousness of environment
reaction to self and environment
Executive functioning and judgments
Emotional response and stability
Language usage
Personality
Word associations and meaning
Memory for habits motor activity
Impairments caused by head injury:
Sequencing – difficulties planning and completing complex tasks in correct order, such as making coffee.
Perseveration – repeating same actions and
comments over without conscious awareness of having done so.
Loss of spontaneity in interacting with others.
Loss of flexibility in thinking, (mental rigidity).
Distractibility – easily distracted
Attention – difficulty focusing on tasks
Concentration difficulties
Mood swings – (emotional lability)
Changes in personality and social behavior
Diminished abstract reasoning – imagination
Difficulty with problem solving
Expressive difficulties – language usage and word finding (Broca’s Aphasia)
Loss of simple movement of various body parts (paralysis)
Occipital Lobes
Functions:
Located at the back of the head (Posterior)
Visual perception
Limitations:
Visual defects (Visual Field Cuts)
Difficulty recognizing colors (Color Agnosia)
Hallucinations
Visual illusions – inaccurately seeing objects.
Word blindness – inability to recognize words
Difficulty recognizing drawn objects
Difficulty perceiving movement (Movement Agnosia)
Loss of academic skills (reading, writing)
After today’s nonsense IOM report produced under CDC(NFL money)/NIH(NFL money)/DoD sponsorship, one will need to look overseas for any real research.
The NFL spent 20 years finding nothing in adults. The DoD spent a decade finding nothing in soldiers. Keep in mind, both are promoting that players/soldiers with issues are the result of substance abuse or preexisting mental conditions not brain trauma.
Much like the 1964 Surgeon General’s report on smoking, it will be driven by foreign investigators because the NFL and its government enablers take a casual view towards children’s health.
The IOM should should simply say this is an NFL approved report prepared by the DC chapter of the flat earth society.