Brain Bucket: Shell Shock and Awe

Part 3 in a series on the American game of war

During the formative weeks of trench warfare in 1914, military physicians saw their first cases of “shell shock,” a cluster of symptoms that include many signs of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Soldiers became confused, sometimes abandoning their posts, with many being condemned to stand before firing squads for…