THEY'RE GETTING HEADS EXAMINED.

Byline: New York Times

As NFL training camps open this week, concussions will again be at the forefront of medical problems that bedevil players and confound team physicians.

But under an enhanced program that will begin this season, 10 NFL teams hope to gain more insight into head injuries by using neuro-psychological examinations on players who are at risk.

Under the neuro-psychological testing, players will be given a baseline psychological evaluation, which includes a neurological examination and tests that measure concentration, motor skills, focus and short-term and long-term memory.

By doing these baseline evaluations before players get concussions, team doctors can better assess whether players are ready to return to the field.

In the last two years, the NFL has stepped up its study of concussions. Neuro-psychological exams, which might be the broadest movement yet, are just part of what teams are doing to help deal with concussions.

And while it is more controversial, neuro-biofeedback is also being used on a limited basis by some teams in an attempt to help athletes strengthen their brains after concussions.

In addition, Dr. John McShane, a Philadelphia Eagles physician, will study eight Eagles players who suffer concussions during games over the next two seasons in hopes of coming away with information that will make it easier for doctors to treat football players who have suffered concussions in games.

``Dr. McShane's study is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we're doing in the study of concussions among athletes,'' said Dr. Elliot Pellman, a team physician with the New York Jets and hockey's New York Islanders and the chairman of the NFL's Subcommittee on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Pellman's group is focusing on whether the number of concussions could be reduced by improving the equipment that players wear. It is developing a design for a new helmet to replace the one that was developed in the 1970s.

The group is also studying the mouthpieces players use and whether force of impacts generated through the jaw could contribute to concussions.

Concussions are the dangerous byproduct of the violent collisions in football. If a hit is violent enough, it can cause the brain to bounce against the inside of a player's skull, resulting in a concussion. The symptoms include headaches, nausea, fatigue, memory loss, confusion and irritability.

For years the NFL viewed concussions as a distressing, but accepted, fact of the sport. Coaches shrugged when a player got his ``bell rung'' and team doctors sent him home to sit in a dark, quiet room to recuperate.

With the recent retirement of Jets receiver Al Toon, Chicago running back Merril Hoge and L.A. Rams quarterback Chris Miller, who all suffered from post-concussion syndrome, and with high-profile quarterbacks like San Francisco's Steve Young and Dallas' Troy Aikman being sidelined with head injuries, the NFL has taken an active interest in the study of concussions.

While the league has not made much progress in eliminating them, it is on the way to finding better means of prevention and treatment.

Although it is not a cure for concussions, the neuro-psychology testing might be the most promising advance in helping players avoid a succession of concussions.

Toon estimated that he suffered nine concussions during his career with the Jets, and team doctors believe that the cumulative effects of those concussions might have compounded Toon's problems.

Doctors believe that players who completely recover from a concussion are not increasingly susceptible to subsequent ones. That is where the neuro-psychological testing will come in.

``This helps the team doctors make decisions on an athlete's readiness to play,'' said Dr. Mark Lovell, a neuro-psychologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and one of the innovators of neuro-psychological testing. ``We think sending someone back in when they still have symptoms from a previous conTcussion puts them at greater risk for another concussion. Prevention is the whole idea.''

Since the tests are done on players who have had concussions in the past but are symptom-free, doctors have a measure to go by if such players suffer another concussion. They would be able to tell when those players return to normal.

Lovell and Dr. Joe Maroon, a Pittsburgh Steelers team physician for 15 years and the Chairman of Neurosurgery at the Allegheny University Health Center in Pittsburgh, began using neuro-psychological testing with the Steelers in 1989.

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PHOTO The NFL has taken an active interest in the study and prevention of concussions.

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