Sensitive and reliable tools are needed to evaluate potential behavioral and cognitive changes following head impact exposure in contact and collision sport participation. We evaluated change in oculomotor testing performance among female, varsity, collegiate athletes following variable exposure to head impacts across a season. Female, collegiate, contact sport (soccer, CONT) and non-contact sport (NON-CONT) athletes were assessed pre-season and post-season. Soccer athletes were grouped according to total season game headers into low dose (≤40 headers; CONT-Low Dose) or high dose (>40 headers; CONT-High Dose) groups. Performance on pro-saccade (reflexive visual response), anti-saccade (executive inhibition), and memory-guided saccade (MGS, spatial working memory) computer-based laboratory tasks were assessed. Primary saccade measures included latency/reaction time, inhibition error rate (anti-saccade only), and spatial accuracy (MGS only). NON-CONT ( n = 20 ) , CONT-Low Dose ( n = 17), and CONT-High Dose ( n = 7) groups significantly differed on pre-season versus post-season latency on tasks with executive functioning demands (anti-saccade and MGS, p ≤ 0.001). Specifically, NON-CONT and CONT-Low Dose demonstrated shorter (i.e., faster) anti-saccade (1.84% and 2.68%, respectively) and MGS (5.74% and 2.76%, respectively) latencies from pre-season to post-season, whereas CONT-High Dose showed 1.40% average longer anti-saccade, and 0.74% shorter MGS, latencies. NON-CONT and CONT-Low Dose demonstrated reduced (i.e., improved) inhibition error rate on the anti-saccade task at post-season versus pre-season, whereas CONT-High Dose demonstrated relative stability ( p = 0.021). The results of this study suggest differential exposure to subconcussive head impacts in collegiate female athletes is associated with differential change in reaction time and inhibitory control performances on executive saccadic oculomotor testing.
Although neuroimaging studies of collision (COLL) sport athletes demonstrate alterations in brain structure and function from pre-to post-season, reliable tools to detect behavioral/cognitive change relevant to functional networks associated with participation in collision sports are lacking. This study evaluated the use of eye-movement testing to detect change in cognitive and sensorimotor processing among male club collegiate athletes after one season of participation in collision sports of variable exposure. We predicted that COLL (High Dose [hockey], n = 8; Low Dose [rugby], n = 9) would demonstrate longer reaction times (antisaccade and memory-guided saccade [MGS] latencies), increased inhibitory errors (antisaccade error rate), and poorer spatial working memory (MGS spatial accuracy) at post-season, relative to pre-season, whereas non-collision collegiate athletes (NON-COLL; n = 17) would remain stable. We also predicted that whereas eye-movement performance would detect pre-to post-season change, ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test) performance would remain stable. Our data showed that NON-COLL had shorter (improved performance) post-versus preseason antisaccade and MGS latencies, whereas COLL groups showed stable, longer, or attenuated reduction in latency ( ps £ 0.001). Groups did not differ in antisaccade error rate. On the MGS task, NON-COLL demonstrated improved spatial accuracy over time, whereas COLL groups showed reduced spatial accuracy ( p < 0.05, uncorrected). No differential change was observed on ImPACT. This study provides preliminary evidence for eyemovement testing as a sensitive marker of subtle changes in attentional control and working memory resulting from participation in sports with varying levels of subconcussive exposure.
Objective The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the use of eye movement testing to detect change in cognitive and sensorimotor processing among male club collegiate athletes following a season of participation in collision sports of variable exposure. We predicted that collision sport athletes (COLL) exposed to subconcussive head trauma would demonstrate longer reaction times (latency) on saccadic eye movement tasks with executive demands (antisaccade and memory-guided saccade [MGS] tasks), greater antisaccade inhibitory errors, and poorer MGS accuracy, a measure of spatial working memory, from pre-season to post-season, whereas non-collision sport athletes (NON-COLL) would demonstrate stability overtime. We predicted that longitudinal change in eye movement performance would be greater than change observed on ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test). Method Collegiate club athletes with variable exposure to contact sports participation [COLL-High Dose, n = 8; COLL-Low Dose, n = 9; NON-COLL, n = 17] completed eye movement and ImPACT assessments pre-season and post-season. Results NON-COLL demonstrated shorter post-season versus pre-season antisaccade and MGS latencies, whereas COLL groups showed stable, longer, or more attenuated (relative to NON-COLL) shorter latencies (ps ≤ .001). NON-COLL demonstrated improved MGS spatial accuracy over the season, whereas COLL groups showed poorer or stable accuracy (ps < .05). No differential change was observed in pre-season to post-season ImPACT performance among groups. Conclusions This pilot study provides preliminary evidence for the use of eye movement testing as a sensitive marker of subtle changes in attentional control and working memory resulting from participation in collision sports.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.