Does Traumatic Brain Injury Cause a Change in Behavior?

Following the weekend murder/suicide involving a professional football player, media reports are again raising the question: Is there a link between traumatic brain injury and dramatic changes in behavior?

Concussions have become a pretty regular injury not only in the NFL, but also on a high school level. Experts say you should always take them seriously.

In the case of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Javon Belcher, it has not yet been confirmed. But the athletic trainer for the Fairview School District, Nicole Parker, tells us she deals with high school students suffering from concussions more often than not, and when they do occur, you have to act on the injury.

Parker says aside from the typical syndromes.. such as headaches and dizziness, it's the emotional side that needs to be brought to peoples attention.

Concussions have been under scrutiny lately in all levels of sports, but could there be a correlation between the injury and future behavior?

Parker tells us the key is education. If you had a concussion and never got it checked and then got hit again, called a second impact syndrome, it could lead to death.

Some local high schools, such as Fairview High School, do have impact testing. It's a computer based assessment to see how students are thinking.