Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury, commonly known as concussion, occurs frequently in children while playing sports. Whereas the negative impact of sport-related concussions on cognitive function is well known, the effects of concussions on sensorimotor function, especially in children, remain largely unknown. In this observational study, we investigated the association between neurocognitive function, assessed using a trail making test, and sensorimotor function, assessed using a visuomotor adaptation task, in three children who suffered from a concussion while playing sports. For the trail making test, children drew lines to connect numbers and letters alternately on a page. For the visuomotor adaptation task, children performed targeted reaching movements repeatedly under a novel visuomotor condition in which the visual display of reaching movements was rotated 30 degrees about the start position. Their neurocognitive and visuomotor performances were compared to those obtained from three children without a concussion. Results showed that only one of the three concussed children showed a score from the trail making test that was worse than those obtained from control subjects. However, the pattern of visuomotor adaptation observed in the concussed children was different from that observed in the control subjects in several ways. These data indicate that the concussed children may have some deficits in terms of their sensorimotor function as compared to the control subjects. Our findings collectively suggest that children with concussion may have sensorimotor impairments even when they do not seem to have neurocognitive impairments.
Highlights
Pediatric concussions have been shown to negatively affect neurocognitive function, including poor attention span, impaired memory and learning difficulties[1,2,3]
We investigated the pattern of adaptation to a novel visuomotor condition in three children who suffered a concussion while playing sports, and compared their adaptation patterns to those obtained from three children without a concussion
A close examination of the adaptation data revealed the following differences: 1. direction error (DE) at trial 1 of the adaptation session was somewhat larger for the patients than the controls; and within-group variability for this measure was larger for the patients (Figure 1d)
Summary
Pediatric concussions have been shown to negatively affect neurocognitive function, including poor attention span, impaired memory and learning difficulties[1,2,3]. Understanding motor learning impairment following sport-related concussion in children may be critical in guiding safe return to play. We investigated the pattern of adaptation to a novel visuomotor condition in three children who suffered a concussion while playing sports, and compared their adaptation patterns to those obtained from three children without a concussion. A research paradigm in which individuals adapt to a novel visuomotor condition during reaching movements has been employed extensively in the neuroscience community to understand the neural processes that underlie motor learning in both adults[4,5] and children[6,7]. TMT is a validated assessment of concussion, and tests cognitive demands that are important for sports, including psychomotor processing, visual motor/spatial abilities and mental flexibility[8,9]
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