Emory Sports Performance And Research Center (SPARC), Flowery Branch, GA, USA; Emory Sports Medicine Center, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Orthopaedics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA; Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Emory Sports Performance And Research Center (SPARC), Flowery Branch, GA, USA; Emory Sports Medicine Center, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Orthopaedics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Kinesiology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA.
Neuroscience. 2024 Oct 18;558:70-80. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.08.014. Epub 2024 Aug 17.
Sports-related concussion (SRC) in adolescent athletes is associated with an increased risk of subsequent lower extremity injury. Neuromuscular training (NMT) has shown promise for reducing lower extremity injuries following SRC, however, neural adaptations in response to changes in lower extremity biomechanics following NMT in athletes with a history of SRC (HxSRC) remains poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify changes in neural activity associated with lower extremity movement adaptations following a six-week NMT intervention in athletes with a HxSRC. Thirty-two right-hand/foot-dominant female adolescent athletes (16 with self-reported HxSRC, 16 age- and anthropometrically-matched controls) completed a bilateral leg press task with 3D motion analysis during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Movement adaptations were defined as a change in frontal and sagittal plane range of motion (ROM) during the fMRI bilateral leg press task. Significant pre- to post-NMT reductions were observed in the non-dominant (left) mean frontal plane ROM. Whole-brain neural correlate analysis revealed that increased cerebellar activity was significantly associated with reduced mean left-knee frontal ROM for matched controls. Exploratory within group analyses identified neural correlates in the postcentral gyrus for the HxSRC group which was associated with reduced mean left-knee frontal plane ROM. These distinct longitudinal changes provide preliminary evidence of differential neural activity associated with NMT to support knee frontal plane control in athletes with and without a HxSRC.
运动相关性脑震荡（SRC）在青少年运动员中与随后下肢损伤的风险增加有关。神经肌肉训练（NMT）已显示出减少 SRC 后下肢损伤的潜力，然而，对于有 SRC 病史（HxSRC）的运动员，NMT 对下肢生物力学变化的神经适应仍然知之甚少。因此，本研究的目的是确定在 HxSRC 运动员接受为期六周的 NMT 干预后，与下肢运动适应相关的神经活动变化。32 名右手/脚主导的女性青少年运动员（16 名自述有 HxSRC，16 名年龄和人体测量学匹配的对照）在功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）期间完成了双侧腿压机任务，同时进行了 3D 运动分析。运动适应被定义为 fMRI 双侧腿压机任务中额状面和矢状面运动范围（ROM）的变化。在非优势（左）侧平均额状面 ROM 中，观察到显著的 NMT 前后减少。全脑神经相关分析显示，小脑活动增加与对照组左膝额状面 ROM 减少显著相关。对 HxSRC 组的组内探索性分析确定了postcentral gyrus 的神经相关性，这与左膝额状面 ROM 减少有关。这些不同的纵向变化提供了初步证据，表明 NMT 与支持有和没有 HxSRC 的运动员膝关节额状面控制相关的神经活动存在差异。
