tailieunhanh - Foundations of Sport-Related Brain Injuries

In summarizing current insights and controversies over concussions in athletics, this book makes the vital point that symptom resolution does not necessarily mean injury resolution. Research shows that dysfunctional pathways continue for extended periods even after a minor concussion. Until the consequences of short-term perturbations and long-term residual brain dysfunctions are better understood, concussions must be treated with respect and given a higher priority for continued research activity | Foundations of Sport-Related Brain Injuries INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER CONCUSSION IN ATHLETICS ONGOING CONTROVERSY Semyon Slobounov1 Wayne Sebastianelli2 1 The Department of Kinesiology The Pennsylvania State University 19 Recreation Hall University Park PA 16802 smsl8@ 2 Department of Orthopaedics and Medical Rehabilitation Milton Hershey Medical College Sport Medicine Center The Pennsylvania State University University Drive University Park PA 16802 wsebastianelli@ Abstract Multiple traumas to the brain are the most common type of catastrophic injury and a leading cause of death in athletes. Multiple brain injuries may occur as the long-term disabilities resulting from a single mild traumatic brain injury MTBI generally known as concussion are often overlooked and the most obvious clinical symptoms appear to resolve rapidly. One of the reasons of controversy about concussion is that most previous research has a failed to provide the pre-injury status of MBTI subjects which may lead to misdiagnosis following a single brain injury of the persistent or new neurological and behavioral deficits b focused primarily on transient deficits after single MTBI and failed to examine for long-term deficits and multiple MTBI c focused primarily on cognitive or behavioral sequelae of MTBI in isolation and d failed to predict athletes at risk for traumatic brain injury. It is necessary to examine for both transient and long-term behavioral sensory-motor cognitive and underlying neural mechanisms that are interactively affected by MTBI. A multidisciplinary approach using advanced technologies and assessment tools may dramatically enhance our understanding of this most puzzling neurological disorder facing the sport medicine world today. This is a major objective of this chapter and the whole book at least in part to resolve existing controversies about concussion. Keywords Injury Concussion Collegiate coaches EEG and Postural stability. 1. INTRODUCTION Over the past decade