Repeated Concussions Impair Behavioral and Neurophysiological Changes in the Motor Learning System.
Gabriela Cantarero, Jake Choynowski, Maria St Pierre and 6 others
PMID 32723160WHAT IT FOUND
Concussed athletes retained a newly learned pinch skill less well the next day than non-concussed athletes, whether tested within 2 weeks or more than 1 year after injury.
Retention worsened with more prior concussions.
Key findings
01Athletes with a concussion history retained the motor skill less well across days than athletes with no concussion history, and the acute and chronic groups did not differ.
02A higher number of prior concussions was associated with poorer skill retention across days.
03Concussed athletes showed less occlusion, a measure of motor cortex plasticity after learning, than non-concussed athletes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 12 athletes were in the acute group, so differences between acute and chronic states may be hard to detect. Concussion history and symptoms were self-reported, and the study did not rigorously quantify sub-concussive hits. The study could not analyze sex differences because of the number of female participants. The acute and chronic groups had similar numbers of prior concussions, which may confound comparisons by injury timing. The study was observational and did not test whether an intervention can improve motor retention.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The article is listed as supported by NIH and non-U.S. government research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that a recent concussion causes worse motor learning than an older concussion. The acute and chronic groups did not differ significantly on retention or occlusion.