Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada.
J Neurol. 2020 Jul;267(7):1970-1979. doi: 10.1007/s00415-020-09749-9. Epub 2020 Mar 14.
We investigated the long-term cognitive effects of concussion in 19,261 members of the general population and a cohort of varsity American football players with a history of frequent head impacts, using tests that are known to be sensitive to small changes in performance.
We asked 19,261 participants to complete a demographic questionnaire and 12 cognitive tests measuring aspects of executive function, including inhibitory control. We compared the performance of those reporting a history of concussion (post-concussion) to those reporting no history of concussion (non-concussed) on the cognitive battery and four non-cognitive variables. We used the results of this population-level study to predict the profile of cognitive performance in varsity American football players, who completed the same cognitive tasks.
Post-concussion and non-concussed participants did not differ on 11 of the 12 cognitive tasks employed. However, on a test of inhibitory control based on the classic Stroop paradigm, post-concussion participants showed accuracy-related impairments specific to the incongruent conditions of the task. Post-concussion participants reported higher levels of anxiety, depression, and trouble concentrating. An entirely independent sample of 74 varsity American football players demonstrated the same pattern of impairment: compared to healthy controls, they scored significantly lower on the test of inhibitory control but were indistinguishable from controls on the 11 other tasks.
Self-reported concussion is not associated with long-term general effects on cognitive function. Nevertheless, those who report at least one concussion and those who expose themselves to long-term frequent sport-related head impacts do have a modest, but statistically robust, deficit of inhibitory control.
我们通过使用已知对表现微小变化敏感的测试，调查了普通人群中的 19261 名成员和一群有频繁头部撞击史的大学美式足球运动员的长期认知影响。
我们要求 19261 名参与者完成一份人口统计问卷和 12 项认知测试，这些测试用于测量执行功能的各个方面，包括抑制控制。我们将报告有脑震荡病史（脑震荡后）的人与报告没有脑震荡病史（未脑震荡）的人在认知电池和四项非认知变量上的表现进行比较。我们使用这项人群研究的结果来预测参加同样认知任务的大学美式足球运动员的认知表现特征。
脑震荡后和未脑震荡参与者在 12 项认知任务中的 11 项上没有差异。然而，在基于经典 Stroop 范式的抑制控制测试中，脑震荡后参与者表现出与任务不一致条件相关的准确性损伤。脑震荡后参与者报告了更高水平的焦虑、抑郁和注意力不集中。一个完全独立的 74 名大学美式足球运动员样本表现出相同的损伤模式：与健康对照组相比，他们在抑制控制测试中的得分明显较低，但在其他 11 项任务中与对照组无法区分。
自我报告的脑震荡与长期认知功能没有关联。然而，那些报告至少有一次脑震荡的人和那些长期频繁遭受与运动相关的头部撞击的人确实存在抑制控制的轻微但具有统计学意义的缺陷。
