Brain study could help fighters decide when to retire

It's decision time for Wanderlei Silva. It's the same dilemma Chuck Liddell struggled with in 2010 and guys like Jens Pulver and Ken Shamrock are still battling. When do you retire from active fighting?
Stand up sluggers take a lot of shots to the head and no one wants to see a fighter with eroding motor skills in his 40's or 50's.
In a story with the same headline, the Las Vegas Review-Journal shines a light on a brain study that could help fighters decide when to retire.
Changes in brain volume, scarring and blood flow will be measured through brain scans. Changes seen on a participant's MRI will be correlated with their performance on cognitive assessments and neurologic exams. When fighters show a correlation between MRI findings and cognitive decline, researchers hope to determine whether there is a relationship to a number of factors, including knockouts, number of rounds fought and number of blows suffered.
"It's important to know the true brain health impact that boxing and other combative sports have on fighters," said Dr. Michael Modic, chairman of the Neurological Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "We hope to find a way to identify fighters with repetitive injuries to be able to knowledgeably tell fighters when to hang up the gloves and help them heal."
The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health is looking for 650 fighters from the boxing and MMA to volunteer for the study. Over a four year period, fighters would have their brains monitored to judge trauma. The study is part of a $400 million grant from the Lincy Foundation, backed by gambling magnate Kirk Kerkorian.
Study participants will undergo four annual MRI brain scans, along with cognitive and speech tests and physical exams to monitor how brain activity can be changed by head trauma in the ring.
The information could also help commissions around the country on issues of licensing. Silva, 35, has lost 6-of-8 fights and suffered nasty KO's in four of those losses. He also took a ton of shots to head in his loss to Liddell. Commissions have never really turned down aging fighters. Maybe they'll have more ammo in the future to protect the fighters from themselves.

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