Concussion Effects May Linger, New Study Says

That a sports concussions have an adverse short-term effect on cognitive functioning has long been known.  But a new study by researchers in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois supports a growing body of evidence that the injury has long-term effects that may linger for years.  The study is reported in the Journal of Neurotrauma.

 

"We were able to show that, while our group of club and intercollegiate athletes, who were on average 3 ½ years post-injury, performed normally on standard tests a sports-medicine practitioner would use to diagnose and evaluate someone for concussion, they had suppressed brain functioning," said U. of I. kinesiology professor Steven Broglio. "And that included a decrease in attention allocation to things going on in their environment."

With respect to existing information linking concussions - medically classified as mild traumatic brain injuries - and the later onset of more serious health problems, Broglio said "there's a lot of information coming to light."

"There's some data coming out of the NFL showing that retired athletes who have had several concussions over their career have increased rates of depression, mild cognitive impairment and early onset of Alzheimer's disease." However, he said, "there's been no link between young adults with concussions and what we are seeing in the older, retired athletes.

The concussion study tested 90 male and female college-aged student athletes who participate in sports, including soccer, ice hockey and rugby. Roughly half of the sample had sustained concussions and were an average of 3.4 years post-injury.

Subtle changes in brain found

While the athletes performed normally on standard neuropsychological tests, researchers using sensitive electromagnetic tests of the brain found subtle and persistent decreases in the area of their brains used to process information about things going on in their environment.

"The issue becomes as they age, as natural aging takes over and cognitive processes slow down and decline, whether [the concussion] has an exacerbating effect, says Broglio.  With age, you are less likely to pay attention to things going on around you that make you more susceptible to injury."

More conservative approach to return to play suggested

While Broglio said it was "not clear if or how" the subtle cognitive deficits found in athletes with a history of concussion would "impact their day-to-day life,"  the study concluded that a conservative approach to mTBI was clearly warranted.  "At the very least, those suspected of sustaining a concussion should be withheld from activity until they perform at or above a pre-[concussion] level of [cognitive functioning]" on standard neuropsychological tests.  Indeed, in light of the study's findings and those from other studies, Broglio suggested that a return to sports within one week following a concussion might be "extended out" to a month, as recommended by one college team doctor in a 2008 article in the Archives of Neurology.