KO'd but Ok

So I know I've been MIA lately but this weekend was one of the biggest events of the year.  Outside of my passion for neuroscience, my favorite obsession is Taekwondo.  And I really don't mean that martial art you did when you were 7 years old.  My type of Taekwondo is where you gear up in light padding and fight for several rounds against an opponent who could potentially knock you out.

The Texas Taekwondo team of 2011-2012 

And this weekend was the National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships.  My team and I travelled to Boston for a weekend spent full of fighting at MIT against some of the best fighters in the nation.  Everyone's year long training regime really showed through and we were a powerful team to beat.  We came away with 3 silvers (including myself) and 1 bronze.

But I'm not here to just brag.  I also found myself raising the neurological question "what exactly causes a knock out?" At this weekend's tournament I saw a good friend and team member of mine get knocked out. I mean he hit the ground and didn't even try to get up for a good ten seconds.  It was sincerely scary.  Afterwards, I watched them take him to the medic station and put him through several rounds of medical and cognitive testing.  In fact, I was put in charge of keeping an eye out for any concussions.

This is what happened to my friend- though this video is of Aaron Cook and Steven Lopez.

When I asked him about the experience, he said his head was a bit sore now but he didn't remember being hit.  In fact, his memory didn't really start recording again until he was seated at the medic station- he doesn't remember standing up.  So what exactly happened to him?

Well after some internet research, I've come to realize that our understanding of knock outs is a little hit-or-miss.  We know that concussions are caused by the brain slamming into the interior of the skull.  But what about knock outs without the concussion?  Some sources say it's short term damage to the brain stem.  But in truth, I couldn't find much on the topic of knock outs without the concussion.  It seems like this should be an area of more study considering the number of contact sports played.

So in a final word- does anyone know where I could get more information on the nature of knock outs?