Brain Rest Helps Children Heal from Concussions Faster

A recent study suggests that children who have suffered concussions should temporarily reduce cognitive activities including homework, reading and other brain teasers in order to prompt a faster recovery.

Researchers tested 335 children between the ages of 8 and 23 over a period of 21 months, all of whom visited a sports concussion clinic in Boston.

The authors found that those who were involved in lots of mental activities, including homework, solving crossword puzzles, playing console, text messaging and other activities recovered at an average of 100 days after their concussion occurred. For those that participated in less brain activities, they recovered in just 20 to 50 days.

"Those who were doing milder levels of cognitive activity recovered at about the same rate as those who were doing minimal levels," study co-author William Meehan, director of research at the Brain Injury Center at Boston Children's Hospital and director of the Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention said, via USA Today.

According to David Hovda, a professor of neurosurgery and director of the Brain Injury Research Center at the University of California, explained via NBC News that when the brain suffers from an issue, it can experience what he refers to as a mini-seizure. "All the cells fire and the brain needs an enormous amount of fuel to equilibrate," he explained. "The brain is then exhausted so it shuts down and becomes very quiet. If you activate the brain during the time it's trying to shut itself down, it will activate, but that will make recovery much more prolonged."