Mice, not ice, the concussion solution?
LONDON — They’re dwarfed by a hockey puck, but that’s not stopping the lab mice at Robarts Research Institute from helping concussion scientists understand more about what happens when a player gets hit on the ice.
Robarts researchers gave four-time Olympic-champion hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser and Western University women’s hockey assistant coach Kalley Armstrong an update on their mice studies Wednesday morning, part of the school’s fifth annual See the Line concussion symposium.
In the research world, clinical trials usually begin on mice then grow and expand into human subjects. But with concussions, Robarts is doing the opposite. Concussions in athletes are complex. There’s dozens of variables, from how hard a player is hit and where, to their medical history, genetics and their history of concussive injuries.
Lab mice don’t have that baggage, said Arthur Brown, principal investigator.
The Robarts team is trying to find predictable concussion markers and outcomes in mice and translate what they find to better diagnostic and treatment tools for human patients.
“Once we develop a good correlation between the animal and the human, and we measure the same things, and repeat them, we can start to think about how to move those treatments into the human sphere,” Brown said.