Measurement of head impacts in collegiate football players: clinical measures of concussion after high- and low-magnitude impacts.

Objective: It has been speculated that a theoretical injury threshold of 70 to 75 g may exist for concussions in football players. We aimed to investigate acute balance and neurocognitive performance after head impacts exceeding a theoretical injury threshold in the absence of both self-reported symptoms and a concussion diagnosis 24 hours before testing.

Methods: Forty-three Division I collegiate football players participated in this double-blind, repeated-measures study.

Effectiveness of mouthguards in reducing neurocognitive deficits following sports-related cerebral concussion.

Although it is widely accepted that mouthguards decrease the incidence of dental injuries, there is a controversy among sports medicine professionals as to the effectiveness of mouthguards in decreasing the incidence or severity of sports-related cerebral concussion (SRCC). While some experimental data suggest that this may be the case, there exist a number of reports suggesting that mouthguards do not serve this purpose. These conclusions have been drawn, however, without actually measuring the extent of neurocognitive dysfunction in athletes following sports-related concussion.