 Concussion is a neurological syndrome. It actually is derived from the Latin word concussio, which is to strike together or to shake violently. So anything that causes movement of the brain in an unusual way inside the skull causes concussion. There's really no way at the moment to quantitate or quantify concussion. Really it's based on the clinical presentation and we use alterations in consciousness. So obviously if someone's completely knocked out that's going to be severe concussion. But it's any alteration in how people are thinking related to head trauma. The short term effects are that athletes usually feel drained of energy. They feel weak. They may have headaches. They may be nauseated. They may often just lie in bed for a few days after a serious head, a knock or concussion. In terms of the long term effects of concussion, that's really where we want to take this research from the Brain Foundation forward. We certainly know that a single injury to the brain causes effects, but long term concussion and effects is not really well understood. Obviously there are the models of boxes, boxing brain, Muhammad Ali. But what happens with football as AFL players who have recurrent concussion and head injuries? Does this make them prone to neurodegenerative conditions, for instance Alzheimer's disease? And obviously with this research programme what we're trying to do is prevent any degeneration of the brain. Any problems that may be fixed or prevented in the future for young athletes. The Brain Foundation concussion initiative is really to get community buy-in to help us try and solve problems with the brain that we don't understand. So with the community support, can we understand what happens with a single injury to the brain? Can we try to better understand what happens with longer term injuries and prevent these long term effects for our athletes? So concussion can affect all people, be they young or old, but it has particularly damaging effects on the developing brain. So in young athletes, particularly people in preschool and early school age, the brain is still actually starting to model itself. The lining of the nerves are coming in, the myelination of the nerves. And if that process is obstructed or damaged through a concussive injury, the longer term effects are greater. So the recovery from concussion is basically unpredictable. We don't know how long it will take for an athlete to get back to their usual self. It might be a small injury could result in someone being off their game for 6 to 12 months, whereas a very large injury being completely knocked out, they're back playing sport within a week. So we need to better understand what is actually happening to the brain and presumably it's related to the energy processes of the brain, the oxygen and blood flow to the brain that is temporarily affected through injury. In terms of the benefits of the research, we really want to protect our sportsmen and our footballers from suffering any long term injuries from concussion. So we want to better identify who has actually suffered a concussion and also to try and work out the best ways for them to get back and play in the game that they love.