Concussion-Related Disruptions to Hub Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Are Related to Symptoms and Cognition.

Concussions present with a myriad of symptomatic and cognitive concerns; however, the relationship between these functional disruptions and the underlying changes in the brain are not yet well understood. Hubs, or brain regions that are connected to many different functional networks, may be specifically disrupted after concussion. Given the implications in concussion research, we quantified hub disruption within the default mode network (DMN) and between the DMN and other brain networks.

Comparison of Various Metrics of Repetitive Head Impact Exposure And Their Associations With Neurocognition in Collegiate-Aged Athletes.

Objective: Characterize the levels of various metrics of repetitive head impacts (RHI) in contact (CS) and non-contact (NCS) sport athletes and determine the extent to which they are associated with fluid cognition.

Methods: Collegiate-aged athletes (n = 176) completed semi-structured interviews about participation in contact sport. RHI was operationalized based on current sport (CS/NCS), the cumulative number of years of participation, age at first exposure (AFE), and based on recently proposed traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) categories.