Subconcussive impacts and imaging findings over a season of contact sports

Elizabeth M Davenport^{1

2

1

2}, Jillian E Urban^{3

3}, Fatemeh Mokhtari^{4

3

4

3}, Ervin L Lowther^{5

5}, John D Van Horn^{6

6}, Christopher G Vaughan^{7

7}, Gerard A Gioia^{7

7}, Christopher T Whitlow^{8

8}, Joel D Stitzel^{3

3}, Joseph A Maldjian^{1

2

1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Neuroscience Imaging Research (ANSIR) Laboratory, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
² Department of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
³ Virginia Tech - Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.
⁵ Department of Radiology-Neuroradiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.
⁶ USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA.
⁷ Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology, Children's National Health System, George Washington University School of Medicine, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
⁸ Translational Science Institute, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.

PMID: 30202561
PMCID: PMC6093756
DOI: 10.2217/cnc-2016-0003

Review

Subconcussive impacts and imaging findings over a season of contact sports

Elizabeth M Davenport et al. Concussion. 2016.

. 2016 Aug 16;1(4):CNC19.

doi: 10.2217/cnc-2016-0003. eCollection 2016 Dec.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Neuroscience Imaging Research (ANSIR) Laboratory, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
² Department of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
³ Virginia Tech - Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.
⁵ Department of Radiology-Neuroradiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.
⁶ USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA.
⁷ Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology, Children's National Health System, George Washington University School of Medicine, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
⁸ Translational Science Institute, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1088, USA.

PMID: 30202561
PMCID: PMC6093756
DOI: 10.2217/cnc-2016-0003

Abstract

The effect of repeated subconcussive head impacts in youth and high school sports on the developing brain is poorly understood. Emerging neuroimaging data correlated with biomechanical exposure metrics are beginning to demonstrate relationships across a variety of modalities. The long-term consequences of these changes are unknown. A review of the currently available literature on the effect of subconcussive head impacts on youth and high school-age male football players provides compelling evidence for more focused studies of these effects in these vulnerable populations.

Keywords: MEG; MRI; contact sports; diffusion imaging; functional imaging; head impacts; neurocognitive testing; repetitive head impacts; sport-related head impacts.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure Support for this research was provided by NIH grant NS082453 (JA Maldjian, JD Stitzel), NS088125 (JA Maldjian) and NS091602 (CT Whitlow, JA Maldjian, JD Stitzel). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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Subconcussive impacts and imaging findings over a season of contact sports

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Subconcussive impacts and imaging findings over a season of contact sports

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