In late October 2022, the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) updated their website and made the following statement: “Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a delayed neurodegenerative disorder that was initially identified in postmortem brains and, research-to-date suggests, is caused in part by repeated traumatic brain injuries” (italics added). SNS recognizes…
Objectives: To determine the association between early screen time (7-10 days postinjury) and postconcussion symptom severity in children and adolescents with concussion, as compared to those with orthopedic injury (OI). Methods: This was a planned secondary analysis of a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Participants were 633 children and adolescents with acute concussion and 334 with OI aged…
Do the types of symptoms matter in the acute evaluation period? Based on this study in professional hockey players by SNS members Jared Bruce & Ruben Echemendia and colleagues they do! Post injury cognitive, somatic/physical, and headache symptoms best differentiated concussed players and active controls. Pre-injury affective/emotional symptoms were also associated with increased likelihood of concussion among…
Sport-related concussions (SRC) have become a public health issue, however little research has focused on the the psychological aspects of this injury. This position paper identifies five postulates that are intended to stimulate research and practice on psychological aspects of SRC. Article Citation:Gordon A. Bloom , Alicia M. Trbovich , Jeffrey G. Caron & Anthony…
The Dynamic Exertion Test (EXiT) was developed to inform return-to-play (RTP) decision-making following clinical recovery from sport-related concussion (SRC). The current study established test-retest reliability in addition to minimal detectable change scores of an objective dynamic exercise assessment among healthy adolescent and adult athletes. The EXiT may be an objective approach to inform RTP decision-making…
Two methods of baseline cognitive testing were evaluated in high school athletes. The authorsadministered the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Testing (ImPACT), a commonly usedcomputerized concussion test, as well as more traditional paper and pencil neuropsychological measuresto a group of high school athletes. The study found that the ImPACT and paper and pencil tests measuredifferent aspects…
In this new article SNS members Stephen Bunt, Nyaz Didehbani, Ph.D. and C. Munro Cullum, Ph.D. found that a delayed presentation to a specialty concussion clinic (30 or more days post-injury) regardless of previous evaluation was associated with poorer recovery outcomes in adults compared to those with an earlier presentation. Time from injury to a formal…
Summer Ott, PsyD, SNS fellow and concussion expert with UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann appeared on Houston Local news channel KPRC 2+ and shared how to keep student athletes safe when returning back to school and sports this fall. https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2022/08/23/preparing-kids-for-school-sports/
SNS President Dr. Rosemarie Scolaro Moser and colleague, Dr. Bridget Mayer discuss the challenges and importance of keeping athletes’ brains healthy in the September issue of the Princeton Magazine. Click HERE to view the entire magazine (article is on page 18).
This article from 2020 looked at how a group of approximately 4000 athletes ages 9 to 21performed on the SWAY Balance System at baseline. The article found that athletes performedsuccessively better on the Balance task and faster on the Reaction Time task as they got older. Italso broke scores into Low, Below Average, Average, Above…