Psycho-affective health, cognition, and neurophysiological functioning following sports-related concussion in symptomatic and asymptomatic athletes, and control athletes

V Sicard,A T Harrison,R D Moore

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-93218-4

V Sicard, A T Harrison + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93218-4

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Abstract

Little is known about the neuropsychiatric and neurophysiological differences that characterize abnormal recovery following a concussion. The present study aimed to investigate the psycho-affective, cognitive, and neurophysiological profiles of symptomatic, slow-to-recover, concussed athletes, asymptomatic concussed athletes, and control athletes. Seventy-eight athletes (26 symptomatic, 26 asymptomatic, 26 control) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Profile of Mood States, and 2-Back task. Additionally, event-related brain potentials were recorded during an experimental three-stimulus visual Oddball paradigm. Compared to asymptomatic and control groups, the symptomatic group reported greater depression symptoms and negatively altered mood states. Symptomatic athletes also exhibited poorer cognitive performance on the 2-Back task, indicated by more errors and slower reaction time. ERP analyses indicated prolonged P3b latency for both symptomatic and asymptomatic groups, but symptomatic athletes also exhibited reduced P3b amplitude compared to both asymptomatic and control groups. For the asymptomatic group, correlations were observed between time since last concussion and functioning, but no relations were observed within the symptomatic group for any measure. The current findings provide valuable information regarding the psycho-affective, cognitive, and neurophysiological profiles of athletes with and without persistent symptoms following a concussion and highlight the need to assess and treat symptomatic, slow-to-recover athletes from a multidimensional and integrative perspective.

Highlights

Little is known about the neuropsychiatric and neurophysiological differences that characterize abnormal recovery following a concussion
We employed the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) to measure psycho-affective health, a 2-Back task, and a three-stimulus visual Oddball Task to measure cognition, and we evaluated event-related potentials (ERPs) during the Oddball task to measure neurophysiological functioning
We predicted a stepwise pattern of results, whereby both symptomatic and asymptomatic groups would exhibit alterations in psychoaffective, cognitive, and neurophysiological health relative to the control group, but that the symptomatic group would exhibit the greatest alterations

Summary

Introduction

Little is known about the neuropsychiatric and neurophysiological differences that characterize abnormal recovery following a concussion. Previous research indicates that athletes with a history of concussion who exhibit increased depression, anxiety, and other psycho-affective symptoms exhibit alterations in neural structure, function, and connectivity[7,8,9]. These results suggest that the long-term sequelae of concussions are partly neurophysiological in origin. The current study aimed to examine the psycho-affective, cognitive, and neurophysiological profiles of symptomatic, slow-to-recover athletes compared to athletes who sustained a concussion but were asymptomatic at the time of testing, and non-concussed controls. We predicted a stepwise pattern of results, whereby both symptomatic and asymptomatic groups would exhibit alterations in psychoaffective, cognitive, and neurophysiological health relative to the control group, but that the symptomatic group would exhibit the greatest alterations

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