Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology have been studying the effects collisions have on the human brain.

This comes as a study released this week found that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was found in the brains of nearly 200 former football players. CTE is a disease linked to repeated blows to the head.

NJIT’s Dr. Namas Chandra says that it may take roughly 25 milliseconds for a football player or military member to feel a brain impact.

“What they have is something called acceleration, deceleration. They keep moving back and forth,” Chandra says. “The injury that is caused is cumulative. It is long-lasting and in order to counter such possible disease you need to have interventions much ahead of the game.”

Chandra says that he admits the study on CTE isn’t perfect. Researchers only tested people who exhibited symptoms of CTE and didn’t have a proper comparison group.

Chandra's lab 3-D printed a model brain made out of ballistic gel that has similar properties to the brain. His group took that model and documented the effects from a hard collision.

Chandra says that research like this makes him believe players with no symptoms could still have damage. He says that he would like to see more people tested properly.

“It’s a question of quantity, it's not a question of it not existing,” he says.

Whether it's a shockwave or a hit, Chandra says that the effects of head injuries are long term and compounded over time. He says that limiting certain hits, and better technology could help.

“I don't believe we have to abandon the game we should really reinvent the game,” he says.

NJIT is hosting military defense personnel in the coming weeks to go over their findings and data for soldiers and the effects of explosive blasts.