Browsing by Author "Leverenz, Larry J."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Accumulation of high magnitude acceleration events predicts cerebrovascular reactivity changes in female high school soccer athletes
    (Springer, 2018) Svaldi, Diana O.; Joshi, Chetas; McCuen, Emily C.; Music, Jacob P.; Hannemann, Robert; Leverenz, Larry J.; Nauman, Eric A.; Talavage, Thomas M.; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Mitigating the effects of repetitive exposure to head trauma has become a major concern for the general population, given the growing body of evidence that even asymptomatic exposure to head accelerations is linked with increased risk for negative life outcomes and that risk increases as exposure is prolonged over many years. Among women's sports, soccer currently exhibits the highest growth in participation and reports the largest number of mild traumatic brain injuries annually, making female soccer athletes a relevant population in assessing the effects of repetitive exposure to head trauma. Cerebrovascular biomarkers may be useful in assessing the effects of repetitive head trauma, as these are thought to contribute directly to neurocognitive symptoms associated with mild traumatic brain injury. Here we use fMRI paired with a hypercapnic breath hold task along with monitoring of head acceleration events, to assess the relationship between cerebrovascular brain changes and exposure to repetitive head trauma over a season of play in female high school soccer athletes. We identified longitudinal changes in cerebrovascular reactivity that were significantly associated with prolonged accumulation to high magnitude (> 75th percentile) head acceleration events. Findings argue for active monitoring of athletes during periods of exposure to head acceleration events, illustrate the importance of collecting baseline (i.e., pre-exposure) measurements, and suggest modeling as a means of guiding policy to mitigate the effects of repetitive head trauma.
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    Every hit matters: White matter diffusivity changes in high school football athletes are correlated with repetitive head acceleration event exposure
    (Elsevier, 2019-07-16) Jang, Ikbeom; Chun, Il Yong; Brosch, Jared R.; Bari, Sumra; Zou, Yukai; Cummiskey, Brian R.; Lee, Taylor A.; Lycke, Roy J.; Poole, Victoria N.; Shenk, Trey E.; Svaldi, Diana O.; Tamer, Gregory G., Jr.; Dydak, Ulrike; Leverenz, Larry J.; Nauman, Eric A.; Talavage, Thomas M.; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Recent evidence of short-term alterations in brain physiology associated with repeated exposure to moderate intensity subconcussive head acceleration events (HAEs), prompts the question whether these alterations represent an underlying neural injury. A retrospective analysis combining counts of experienced HAEs and longitudinal diffusion-weighted imaging explored whether greater exposure to incident mechanical forces was associated with traditional diffusion-based measures of neural injury-reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and increased mean diffusivity (MD). Brains of high school athletes (N = 61) participating in American football exhibited greater spatial extents (or volumes) experiencing substantial changes (increases and decreases) in both FA and MD than brains of peers who do not participate in collision-based sports (N = 15). Further, the spatial extents of the football athlete brain exhibiting traditional diffusion-based markers of neural injury were found to be significantly correlated with the cumulative exposure to HAEs having peak translational acceleration exceeding 20 g. This finding demonstrates that subconcussive HAEs induce low-level neurotrauma, with prolonged exposure producing greater accumulation of neural damage. The duration and extent of recovery associated with periods in which athletes do not experience subconcussive HAEs now represents a priority for future study, such that appropriate participation and training schedules may be developed to minimize the risk of long-term neurological dysfunction.
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    Functionally-detected cognitive impairment in high school football players without clinically-diagnosed concussion
    (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2014-02) Talavage, Thomas M.; Nauman, Eric A.; Breedlove, Evan L.; Yoruk, Umit; Dye, Anne E.; Morigaki, Katherine E.; Feuer, Henry; Leverenz, Larry J.; Department of Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    Head trauma and concussion in football players have recently received considerable media attention. Postmortem evidence suggests that accrual of damage to the brain may occur with repeated blows to the head, even when the individual blows fail to produce clinical symptoms. There is an urgent need for improved detection and characterization of head trauma to reduce future injury risk and promote development of new therapies. In this study we examined neurological performance and health in the presence of head collision events in high school football players, using longitudinal measures of collision events (the HIT(™) System), neurocognitive testing (ImPACT(™)), and functional magnetic resonance imaging MRI (fMRI). Longitudinal assessment (including baseline) was conducted in 11 young men (ages 15-19 years) participating on the varsity and junior varsity football teams at a single high school. We expected and observed subjects in two previously described categories: (1) no clinically-diagnosed concussion and no changes in neurological behavior, and (2) clinically-diagnosed concussion with changes in neurological behavior. Additionally, we observed players in a previously undiscovered third category, who exhibited no clinically-observed symptoms associated with concussion, but who demonstrated measurable neurocognitive (primarily visual working memory) and neurophysiological (altered activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC]) impairments. This new category was associated with significantly higher numbers of head collision events to the top-front of the head, directly above the DLPFC. The discovery of this new category suggests that more players are suffering neurological injury than are currently being detected using traditional concussion-assessment tools. These individuals are unlikely to undergo clinical evaluation, and thus may continue to participate in football-related activities, even when changes in brain physiology (and potential brain damage) are present, which will increase the risk of future neurological injury.
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    Sub-concussive Hit Characteristics Predict Deviant Brain Metabolism in Football Athletes
    (Taylor and Francis, 2015) Poole, Victoria N.; Breedlove, Evan L.; Shenk, Trey E.; Abbas, Kausar; Robinson, Meghan E.; Leverenz, Larry J.; Nauman, Eric A.; Dydak, Ulrike; Talavage, Thomas M.; Department of Radiology and Imaging, IU School of Medicine
    Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and helmet telemetry were used to monitor the neural metabolic response to repetitive head collisions in 25 high school American football athletes. Specific hit characteristics were determined highly predictive of metabolic alterations, suggesting that sub-concussive blows can produce biochemical changes and potentially lead to neurological problems.