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

描述（由申请人提供）：在美国，每年有30万人遭受运动性脑震荡，大多数处于危险之中的运动员都在高中阶段。 高中足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的三分之二。 运动性脑震荡的短期和长期影响，也许更重要的是重复性亚震荡冲击尚不清楚，重复性损伤的累积影响也不清楚。 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、认知测试和功能性脑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、在哪些个体中会对大脑功能产生什么影响。 该建议将有助于确定重复生物力学力暴露对发育中的青少年大脑的短期和长期影响，提供有关运动相关创伤性脑损伤生物力学的重要信息，并导致更明智的重返赛场指南。 这项建议的首要主题是，一个年轻人的接触生物力学力量是影响认知结果的一个关键因素。 这有两个广泛的组成部分：一个单一的影响的特点（如线性加速度，旋转加速度，方向等），以及随着时间的推移暴露于生物力学力的历史（例如，在前几天和前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、认知测试和功能性脑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、在哪些个体中会对大脑功能产生什么影响。 急性（脑震荡后）、亚急性（赛季前至赛季后一个月）和累积（多个赛季的暴露）暴露于生物力学力是值得关注的，并将进行监测。 两组高中学生运动员（足球运动员和非冲击运动员）将在三个时间点（季前赛，一个赛季的比赛后，多个赛季的比赛后）使用标准化的认知电池和功能性MRI（fMRI）进行研究。 一组遭受脑震荡的学生，以及来自他们团队和非冲击运动员组的匹配对照组也将在脑震荡后一周内进行研究。 将使用头盔加速度计直接测量撞击参数。

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.