Effect of Biomechanical Force Exposure on Cognition & Brain Activation in Student

描述(由申请者提供)：在美国，每年有30万人遭受运动脑震荡。大多数有风险的运动员都是高中水平的运动员。高中橄榄球运动员是一个特别高风险的群体，约占高中运动员脑震荡总数的三分之二。运动性脑震荡的短期和长期影响以及可能更重要的重复性亚脑震荡影响尚不清楚，也不了解反复损伤的累积影响。结果存在巨大的差异，尽管这种差异的原因尚不清楚。我们建议利用现场头部撞击监测、认知测试和脑功能成像方面的技术进步，首次了解什么类型的头部撞击，在什么情况下，在哪些人身上，对大脑功能造成什么影响。这一建议将有助于确定重复生物力学暴露对发育中的青少年大脑的短期和长期影响，为运动相关创伤性脑损伤的生物力学提供重要信息，并导致更多知情的重返赛场指导方针。 这项提议的主要主题是，年轻人暴露在生物力学力量中是影响认知结果的关键因素。这包括两个主要部分：单次撞击的特征(例如，线加速度、旋转加速度、方向等)，以及随着时间的推移暴露于生物机械力的历史(例如，对之前几天和几周内撞击的频率和强度的测量)。我们建议利用现场头部撞击监测、认知测试和脑功能成像方面的技术进步，首次了解什么类型的头部撞击，在什么情况下，在哪些人身上，对大脑功能造成什么影响。剧烈(脑震荡后)、亚急性(季后赛前至季后赛一个月)和累积(在多个赛季的比赛中暴露)的生物力学暴露是有意义的，将被监测。两组高中生运动员(足球运动员和非冲击性运动运动员)将在三个时间点(季前赛、单赛季比赛后和多个赛季比赛后)使用标准化认知电池和功能磁共振成像(FMRI)进行研究。在脑震荡后的一周内，也将对脑震荡的一组学生进行研究，并从他们所在的团队和非冲击性运动员组中匹配对照组。撞击参数将使用基于头盔的加速度计单元直接测量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 300,000 individuals sustain sports concussions each year in the U.S. The majority of at-risk athletes are at the high school level. High school football players represent a particularly high-risk group, accounting for about two-thirds of all concussions in high school athletes. The short- and long-term effects of sports concussions and perhaps more importantly repetitive sub-concussive impacts are not known, nor are the cumulative effects of repeated injuries understood. There is enormous variability in outcome, although the reasons for this variability are not understood. We propose to use technological advances in on-field head impact monitoring, cognitive testing, and functional brain imaging to learn for the first time what types of head impacts, under what circumstances, in which individuals, cause what effects in brain function. This proposal will help to determine the short and long term effects of repetitive biomechanical force exposure on the developing adolescent brain, provide important information on the biomechanics of sports-related traumatic brain injury, and lead to more informed return-to-play guidelines. The overarching theme of this proposal is that a youth's exposure to biomechanical forces is a critical factor influencing cognitive outcome. This has two broad components: the characteristics of a single impact (e.g. linear acceleration, rotational acceleration, direction etc.), and the history of exposure to biomechanical forces over time (e.g. measures of frequency and intensity of impacts over the preceding days and weeks). We propose to use technological advances in on-field head impact monitoring, cognitive testing, and functional brain imaging to learn for the first time what types of head impacts, under what circumstances, in which individuals, cause what effects in brain function. Exposure to biomechanical forces acutely (post-concussive), sub-acutely (pre- to one-month post-season), and cumulatively (exposure over multiple seasons of play) are of interest and will be monitored. Two groups of high school student athletes (football players and non-impact sport athletes) will be studied at three time points (preseason, after a single season of play, and after multiple seasons of play) using a standardized cognitive battery and functional MRI (fMRI). A subgroup of students who sustain concussion, and matched controls from their team and from the non-impact athlete group will also be studied within one week of the concussion. Impact parameters will be directly measured using helmet-based accelerometer units.