Topic 4 - research findings

Question 1

what is the symptom progression in contact sport athletes

Answer 1

increase in symptoms at 72 hours
decrease at 2 week mark
better than baseline after a month

Question 2

what are the effects on BP, tone, activation in contact sport athletes

Answer 2

no differences in overall BP
reduction in sympathetic tone (mostly phase - back to baseline at 1 month)
more activation / nutrient delivery requried to do the same task (damaged neurons = less efficient)

Question 3

what are the effects on neurovascular coupling in contact sport athletes with a history of concussion and what does this show

Answer 3

no alterations in NV coupling parameters when examining history of concussion

shows that concussions don’t have ot be cumulative - can get back to do things

transient impairment observed acutely post concussion may not be cumulative

Question 4

how might symptoms in victims of IPV differ

Answer 4

may be rooted in structural or physiological alterations affecting brain function

more injury = higher increases in phase and decreases in gain

premature aging = higher instances of AD

Question 5

what were the results of controlled soccer heading

Answer 5

• can get acute changes (all symptoms resolved within 8 hours)
• reduces the ability of the cerebrovasculature to buffer alterations in BP
• appears to affect both myogenic and sympathetic components of brain autoregulation

Question 6

what are changes after a season of contact sport

Answer 6

• no changes in BP and myogenic tone
• subtle changes in sympathetic (phase and gain)
• no changes in NV coupling
• reduces ability to buffer alterations in BP (greater effect on sympathetic component)

Question 7

what is the time difference between clinical and physiological recovery

Answer 7

clinical recovery - expected around 2 weeks
physiological recovery - expected around 1 month