School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2088, United States.
J Biomech. 2012 Apr 30;45(7):1265-72. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2012.01.034. Epub 2012 Feb 28.
Concussion is a growing public health issue in the United States, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is the chief long-term concern linked to repeated concussions. Recently, attention has shifted toward subconcussive blows and the role they may play in the development of CTE. We recruited a cohort of high school football players for two seasons of observation. Acceleration sensors were placed in the helmets, and all contact activity was monitored. Pre-season computer-based neuropsychological tests and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tests were also obtained in order to assess cognitive and neurophysiological health. In-season follow-up scans were then obtained both from individuals who had sustained a clinically-diagnosed concussion and those who had not. These changes were then related through stepwise regression to history of blows recorded throughout the football season up to the date of the scan. In addition to those subjects who had sustained a concussion, a substantial portion of our cohort who did not sustain concussions showed significant neurophysiological changes. Stepwise regression indicated significant relationships between the number of blows sustained by a subject and the ensuing neurophysiological change. Our findings reinforce the hypothesis that the effects of repetitive blows to the head are cumulative and that repeated exposure to subconcussive blows is connected to pathologically altered neurophysiology.
脑震荡是美国日益严重的公共卫生问题,慢性创伤性脑病(CTE)是与反复脑震荡相关的主要长期问题。最近,人们的注意力转向了亚脑震荡冲击,以及它们在 CTE 发展中可能发挥的作用。我们招募了一组高中生,进行了两个赛季的观察。在头盔中放置了加速传感器,并监测了所有接触活动。还获得了基于计算机的神经心理学测试和功能磁共振成像(fMRI)测试,以评估认知和神经生理健康。然后,对那些在赛季中被临床诊断为脑震荡的人和那些没有脑震荡的人进行了随访扫描。然后,通过逐步回归,将这些变化与整个足球赛季到扫描日期为止记录的打击历史联系起来。除了那些遭受脑震荡的受试者外,我们的大部分未遭受脑震荡的队列也表现出显著的神经生理变化。逐步回归表明,受试者所承受的打击次数与随后的神经生理变化之间存在显著关系。我们的发现支持了这样一种假设,即头部反复受到冲击的影响是累积的,反复暴露于亚脑震荡冲击与病理性改变的神经生理学有关。