Symptom Exacerbation and Adverse Events During a Randomized Trial of Early-Stage Rehabilitation After Sport-Related Concussion: Safety Outcomes From the Active Rehab Study.

Context: Authors of few studies have used randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to quantify clinical intervention safety of rehabilitation after sport-related concussion across sport levels.

Objective: Describe symptom exacerbation and adverse events (AEs) associated with two concussion rehabilitation interventions.

Design: Cluster RCT (NCT02988596).

Not Just for Dancing? A Content Analysis of Concussion and Head Injury Videos on TikTok.

Social media platforms are an accessible and increasingly used way for the public to gather healthcare-related information, including on sports injuries. "TikTok" is currently one of the fastest-growing social media platforms worldwide, and it is especially popular amongst adolescents and young adults. The widespread use and popularity of TikTok suggests that this platform has potential to be a source for healthcare information for younger individuals.

Good Food, Good Mood: Perspectives on the Relationship Between Nutrition and Mental Health With Division I Collegiate Athletic Programs.

Research has shown a strong relationship between nutrition and mental health. Packed schedules and little rest time may make student-athletes more susceptible to mental health issues than the general population, but few athletes are fully aware of the effects that nutrition can have on their mental health. While collegiate athletic programs are beginning to recognize the individual contributions of nutrition and mental health to performance and are hiring sport dietitians and psychologists for their athletes, it is unclear whether these topics are ever discussed within the same context.

Gait Assessment in College Athletes: Do Concussion History, Symptoms, Gender, and Type of Sport Matter?

Context: Though previous research has focused on examining the effects of concussion history using a dual-task paradigm, the influence of factors like symptoms (unrelated to concussion), gender, and type of sport on gait in college athletes is unknown.

Objective: To examine the effect of concussion history, symptoms, gender, and type of sport (noncontact/limited contact/contact) individually on gait among college athletes.

Design: Exploratory cross-sectional study.

Parent influence on concussion reporting in first-year collegiate athletes.

Objective: To assess the relationship between sport-parenting practices and concussion reporting intentions of collegiate athletes across two levels of competition.

Participants: Entering first-year student-athletes (varsity and club) at a mid-sized university in the Southeast region of the United States (n = 327).

Methods: Written surveys were completed prior to the start of the 2015 academic year.

Examination of clinical and laboratory measures of static and dynamic balance in breast cancer survivors.

Balance in breast cancer survivors is understudied. Increased understanding of how postural control is affected when the body is stationary, moving, or engaged in a concurrent cognitive task, can aid clinicians who work with this population in identifying how altered postural control may indicate a potential functional decline. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare performance on several assessments of static and dynamic balance, with and without a concurrent cognitive task, in women with and without a history of breast cancer.

Baseline Neurocognitive Performance and Symptoms in Those With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders and History of Concussion With Previous Loss of Consciousness.

Previous consensus statements on sports concussion have highlighted the importance of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and loss of consciousness (LOC) as risk factors related to concussion management. The present study investigated how self-reported history of either ADHD diagnosis or history of previous concussion resulting in LOC influence baseline neurocognitive performance and self-reported symptoms. This analysis was performed retrospectively on data collected primarily from student-athletes, both Division 1 and club sports athletes.

Turn Characteristics During Gait Differ With and Without a Cognitive Demand Among College Athletes.

Context: Sports often involve complex movement patterns, such as turning. Although cognitive load effects on gait patterns are well known, little is known on how it affects biomechanics of turning gait among athletes. Such information could help evaluate how concussion affects turning gait required for daily living and sports.

Concussion history influences sleep disturbances, symptoms, and quality of life in collegiate student-athletes.

Objectives: Immediately after experiencing a concussion, many will report the presence of a variety of symptoms, which may include disturbances in sleep. It is possible that these symptoms and other resulting quality of life (QOL) disturbances may persist for some time following a concussion. The purpose of this study was to determine if a history of concussions was related to ongoing sleep disturbances, symptoms, and changes in QOL.

Influence of Concussion History and Genetics on Event-Related Potentials in Athletes: Potential Use in Concussion Management.

Sports-related concussions are an increasing public health issue with much concern about the possible long-term decrements in cognitive function and quality of life that may occur in athletes. The measurement of cognitive function is a common component of concussion management protocols due to cognitive impairments that occur after sustaining a concussion; however, the tools that are often used may not be sensitive enough to expose long term problems with cognitive function. The current paper is a brief review, which suggests that measuring cognitive processing through the use of event related potentials (ERPs) may provide a more sensitive assessment of cognitive function, as shown through recent research showing concussion history to influence ERPs components.

Genetics Influence Neurocognitive Performance at Baseline but Not Concussion History in Collegiate Student-Athletes.

Objective: This study investigates 4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms [Apolipoprotein E (APOE), APOE promoter, catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), and dopamine D2 receptor] that have been implicated in concussion susceptibility and/or cognitive ability in collegiate student-athletes.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Neuroscience laboratory at Elon University.

Concussion Baseline Testing: Preexisting Factors, Symptoms, and Neurocognitive Performance.

Context: Neurocognitive test scores are often considered an important aspect of concussion management. To best use these data, clinicians must understand potential factors that may influence baseline performance on these tests.

Objective: To determine preexisting factors that may influence performance on the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT).

The effects of unstable surface balance training on postural sway, stability, functional ability and flexibility in women.

Background: This study examined the effects of balance training routine, using both sides utilized balance trainer (BOSU) and aerobic step (STEP) on postural sway and functional ability in middle-aged women.

Methods: Twenty-seven females participated in the study, age 40.6±12.

Evidence of a conservative gait strategy in athletes with a history of concussions.

Background: A history of 3 or more concussions is frequently associated with numerous short- and long-term neuropathologies. Impairments in postural control are a known acute consequence of concussion; however, limited evidence exists on the effects of multiple concussions on gait. The purpose of this study was to assess gait stepping characteristics in collegiate aged student-athletes based on concussion history.

A neuroscientific approach to the examination of concussions in student-athletes.

Concussions are occurring at alarming rates in the United States and have become a serious public health concern. The CDC estimates that 1.6 to 3.

Concussion management in collegiate student-athletes: return-to-academics recommendations.

Concussions in collegiate athletics can affect student-athletes both on the field and in the classroom. As policies are made to outline return-to-play decisions and timelines, this article will make the case that return-to-academics should also be included and follow a step-wise protocol. Complete cognitive rest is a cornerstone of concussion recovery and slow reintroduction to academics should precede return-to-play.

Identifying leading joint strategies in a bimanual coordination task: does coordination stability depend on leading joint strategy?

The authors sought to determine if principles of the Leading Joint Hypothesis, when applied to a multijoint, bimanual coordination task, could provide insight into the contribution of intralimb dynamics to interlimb coordination. Participants repetitively traced ellipse templates with an isodirectional motion of the end effectors (both hands moving counterclockwise [CCW]) at two cycling frequencies. Ellipse templates were oriented either tilted right or tilted left, yielding a total of 4 left arm-right arm leading-joint combinations.

Targeted aiming movements are compromised in nonaffected limb of persons with stroke.

Background: Research has shown that movement impairments following stroke are typically associated with the limb contralateral to the side of the stroke. Prior studies identified ipsilateral motor declines across a variety of tasks.

Objective: Two experiments were conducted to better understand the ipsilateral contributions to organization and execution of proximal upper extremity multisegment aiming movements in persons with right-hemispheric stroke.

Efficient control of arm movements in advanced age.

The present study addresses the influence of aging on the ability to regulate mechanical effects arising during arm movements due to the multi-joint structure of the arm. Two mechanical factors were considered, interaction torque (IT) and inertial resistance (IR). Regulation of these two factors can be demanding in terms of the timing and magnitude of the required muscle torque (MT), specifically during fast movements.

The role of vision in the control of continuous multijoint movements.

The authors investigated whether visual fixations during a continuous graphical task were related to arm endpoint kinematics, joint motions, or joint control. The pattern of visual fixations across various shapes and the relationship between temporal and spatial events of the moving limb and visual fixations were assessed. Participants (N=16) performed movements of varying shapes by rotating the shoulder and elbow joints in the transverse plane at a comfortable pace.

Disruptions in joint control during drawing arm movements in Parkinson's disease.

Impairments in control of multi-joint arm movements in Parkinson's Disease (PD) were investigated. The PD patients and age-matched elderly participants performed cyclical arm movements, tracking templates of a large circle and four differentially oriented ovals on a horizontal table. The wrist was immobilized and the movements were performed with shoulder and elbow rotations.

Age-related differences in the control of multijoint movements.

The present study investigates whether regulation of interactive torque during multijoint movements decays with advanced age as a result of declines in the motor system. Young and elderly adults repeatedly drew a circle and ovals oriented in different directions using shoulder and elbow joint movements. Each template was traced at three levels of cycling frequency with and without vision.

Multijoint movement control: the importance of interactive torques.

The underlying mechanisms of the neural control of movement have long been explored, with a focus primarily on central control aspects and often overlooking the intrinsic mechanical properties of the motor system. To fully understand the control and regulation of movements, the biomechanical properties of the moving subject, specifically interactive torques, must be considered in the design, evaluation, and interpretation of empirical data. We first discuss the difficulty of extrapolating information from a wide variety of tasks due to their varying inherent task constraints.

Memory-motor transformations are impaired in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease patients are known to suffer loss of dopaminergic input to the rostral caudate nucleus. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have implicated this structure in the transformation of spatial information in memory to guide action, suggesting that memory to motor transformations may be selectively impaired in Parkinson's disease. In order to investigate this possibility we tested a group of Parkinson's disease patients (PDs) using a memory-guided pointing task.