Novel brain biometrics could help inform whether an athlete is ready to return to play following a concussion, according to new research from the University of South Australia.
Conducted in partnership with the University of California San Francisco (UCFC), researchers found that changes in micromovements of the brain – termed ‘headpulses’ – could detect the lasting impacts of a concussion.
Using a custom-designed headset* to evaluate headpulse biometrics among 101 amateur male and female Australian Rules Football players in South Australia, researchers identified brain abnormalities in 81% of players inflicted by concussion, signalling sustained injury beyond expected recovery times.
These headpulse alterations lasted 14 days beyond concussion symptoms and were exacerbated by return-to-play or unsupervised physical activity.
UniSA Professor of Exercise Science Kevin Norton says that headpulse measures could complement current return-to-play protocols.
“Traumatic brain injury inflicts more than 60 million people every year, with a third of these being sports-related,” Prof Norton says.
“While we know that Australia’s sports sector takes concussions seriously – via considered return-to-play protocols – we also know that objective measures of concussion recovery are not fully established.
“In this research, we used headpulses – a normal measure of brain ‘wobble’ aligned with each heartbeat – to assess any changes in frequency resulting from a concussion.
“We discovered that almost all players who received a concussion had a ‘disconnect’ between their symptoms and the headpulse, such that even when the players said they felt good, the headpulse still showed evidence of brain injury.”
AANS Neurosurgeon is the official socioeconomic publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and features information and analysis for contemporary neurosurgical practice. Published monthly online, AANS Neurosurgeon focuses on issues related to neurosurgery legislation, the workforce and practice management.
