Following the recent Four Corners episode on concussion in the AFL, Dr Alan Pearce wrote in the Conversation that the crisis of long-term brain damage in Australian rules footballers may be deepening.

There's been an increasing number of diagnosed cases of CTE - chronic traumatic encephalopathy - in brains donated to the Australian Sports Brain Bank, and a concerning proportion of donated brains come from cases of suicide, some of whom are disturbingly young.

Pearce talks to Nick Feik about the little-understood risk to AFL players, both professional and non-professional, from head injuries.

Dr Alan Pearce PhD is an Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University and a neurophysiologist whose primary research focus is on sports-related concussion. His research centres on brain physiology to quantify cognitive and motor impairments post-concussion, and he is regarded internationally for his research.