Hi people,
recently I took part in a couple of sparring boxing sessions and got hit there multiple times like 60 very light hits and 5-6 moderate hits. 1 or two moderate to hard ones. I never lost consciousness but got dizzy for a very brief period of time after one hit (3 sec.). A couple of days ago I took part in an IQ test which provided a result lower than expected. Furthermore I use to play game which is similar to chess and I noticed that I play worse than before. I know it was a stupid idea to take part in this sport altogether and thus stopped training altogether 2 weeks ago. However I wonder wether I took any permanent damage or wether the effects will be temporary and my original ability will recover. Whats your opinion? What can I do to optimize recovery?
Thanks in advance.

Most likely, your symptoms are temporary. Nobody can say how long they will last. 85% recover in the first 6 weeks. Read the sticky at the top about Vitamins. It will give your brain the extra nutrition it needs to heal fastest. No alcohol, minimal or no caffeine, no msg or artificial sweeteners and you will give your brain the best chance at healing.

Try to take your days a bit slower. Lowering your stress and activity levels is good.

And, no more beating your brain up. You only have one and they do not heal completely. The next time will be worse.

My best to you.

Thx for your reply. It relieves me a lot to hear this. I already bought vitamins, fish oil and ordered this curcumin stuff. Take your days slower? Right now I play a lot of chess and do neurocognitive training. Should I stop doing that?
And should I do jogging?

I took part in this sport because I didnt know about the consequences. People tend to trivialize them and a lot of the guys at the gym were actually academics. The whole idea of that sport is to hurt the most valuable part of your body. How can anybody take part in that?

Just curious. What kind of neurocognitive training and for what purpose ?

My one friend took up boxing this past semester. In one match I watched of his between him and a friend, he took about five good head punches in a row and had to stop the match. The point is, he knew when it was time to quit, because he said after the fifth punch his head didn't feel right. I don't know if you experienced a similar sensation at all. My friend had a headache for the rest of the day, but then he was fine the day after. So, while everyone is different, at least from that experience I've seen that those are only temporary sorts of things.

I'm sure you realize this now, but continually doing that will obviously make you not so lucky. This is why we see athletes like football players and boxers sustain life-long problems from brain injuries, because the more times you damage your brain, the more it accumulates, and eventually you stop getting so lucky with healing.

As for what to be doing while recovering, I remember my family doctor basically just told me only use your brain as much as you need to. So things like chess might require some intense cognitive processes with its strategizing, and so maybe you should limit that for right now. Light cardio is fine, just don't overdo it. Some fast walking/slow jogging can be very beneficial for the brain, but if you push too much it won't be. Just feel your symptoms out...try jogging and if it makes things worse, stop. Simple as that.

There is this programme called brain twister. Its the same programme Jaeggi et al did a study on a couple of years ago. While it received a lot of praise back then for its ability to enhance working memory and thus fluid intelligence the study was critizised for being flawed later.

LTagard,

The study was either flawed or just slanted. The brain training industry has been pulling out all the stop to sell their programs. The recent research shows that each exercise causes an increase in ability to do that exercise. The cross-over value is limited. The key value is at developing underdeveloped skills. Developing observational skills. Developing focus skills.

If you really wanted to maximize your brain, you should have been learning to play the piano and violin from a young age while the brain was more formative.

Deuce,

You are mistaken if you think a quick recovery means there was no damage. Your boxer friend exhibited signs of a concussion. There are plenty of athletes who never suffered a single concussion but developed severe Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, as early as their 20's, from hits with much less force than the average boxers punch.

Heading a soccer ball, especially during heading drills, is known to cause cumulative damage. No head aches or other symptoms but damage happens.

So, tell your friends to be careful. The brain is for thinking, not hitting.

The goal of boxing is to cause brain damage. Otherwise, head hits would be outlawed and body blows would be the rule.

I wasn't trying to imply that there was no damage, sorry if it sounded like that. That's why I further went on to explain how continuous blows will accumulate further damage to the brain. My friend hasn't boxed since then. I think it's like LTagard said, people tend to trivialize the damage that boxing can do to the brain. Everyone needs to be careful with those kinds of sports.

Is it possible to increase blood flow to the brain by any means?

There is this cerebrolysin drug? what do you think of it? are there any other drugs you would recommend?