Citation

Pearce AJ, Rist B, Fraser CL, Cohen A, Maller JJ. Brain Inj. 2018; 32(4): 498-505.

Affiliation

f General Electric Healthcare , Melbourne, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02699052.2018.1430376

PMID

29388850

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Concussion is regarded as a common injury in rugby league, however no studies have explored the long-term neurophysiological and cognitive effects of repeated concussion injuries in this sport.

METHODS: Former professional rugby athletes (n = 25) were compared to 25 age-matched participants with no history of a concussion. All participants completed standardised motor dexterity, reaction time, and cognitive tasks for working memory, associative learning and rule acquisition and reversal. Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) acquired motor evoked potentials and cortical silent period (cSP), as well as paired-pulse TMS for short latency intracortical inhibition and long intracortical inhibition (LICI).

RESULTS: Compared to controls, dexterity and visuomotor reaction time was slower in the rugby group compared to controls (p = 0.02, p < 0.01, respectively). The rugby group also demonstrated poorer cognitive performance than controls (p range 0.02 to < 0.01). TMS revealed significantly reduced cSP at suprathreshold stimulation intensities (p range 0.02 to <0.01), and increased LICI (p = 0.03) in the rugby group.

DISCUSSION: These findings of motor and cognitive changes, along with neurophysiological alterations, particularly with intracortical inhibition, nearly two decades post-concussion provides evidence for long-term sequelae for athletes with a history of repeated head trauma in contact sports.

Language: en

Keywords

Sport; concussion; mild traumatic brain injury; motor cortex inhibition; motor execution slowness; rugby league; transcranial magnetic stimulation