TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Diffusion imaging reveals sex differences in the white matter following sports-related concussion
JO  - Cerebral cortex
A1  - Wright, David K.
A1  - Symons, Georgia F.
A1  - O'Brien, William T.
A1  - McDonald, Stuart J.
A1  - Zamani, Akram
A1  - Major, Brendan
A1  - Chen, Zhibin
A1  - Costello, Daniel
A1  - Brady, Rhys D.
A1  - Sun, Mujun
A1  - Law, Meng
A1  - O'Brien, Terence J.
A1  - Mychasiuk, Richelle
A1  - Shultz, Sandy R.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Sports-related concussion (SRC) is a serious health concern. However, the temporal profile of neuropathophysiological changes after SRC and how these relate to biological sex are still poorly understood. This preliminary study investigated whether diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) was sensitive to neuropathophysiological changes following SRC; whether these changes were sex-specific; and whether they persisted beyond the resolution of self-reported symptoms. Recently concussed athletes (n = 14), and age- and education-matched nonconcussed control athletes (n = 16), underwent MRI 24-48-h postinjury and again at 2-week postinjury (i.e., when cleared to return-to-play). Male athletes reported more symptoms and greater symptom severity compared with females. dMRI revealed white matter differences between athletes with SRC and their nonconcussed counterparts at 48-h postinjury. These differences were still present at 2-week postinjury, despite SRC athletes being cleared to return to play and may indicate increased cerebral vulnerability beyond the resolution of subjective symptoms. Furthermore, we identified sex-specific differences, with male SRC athletes having significantly greater white matter disruption compared with female SRC athletes. These results have important implications for the management of concussion, including guiding return-to-play decisions, and further improve our understanding regarding the role of sex in SRC outcomes.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1047-3211
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab095
ID  - ref1
ER  -