Predictive Power of Head Impact Intensity Measures for Recognition Memory Performance

Abstract

Subconcussive head injuries are connected to both short-term cognitive changes and long-term neurodegeneration. Further study is required to understand what types of subconcussive impacts might prove detrimental to cognition. We studied cadets at the US Air Force Academy engaged in boxing and physical development, measuring head impact motions during exercise with accelerometers. These head impact measures were compared with post-exercise memory performance. Investigators explored multiple techniques for characterizing the magnitude of head impacts. Boxers received more head impacts and achieved lower performance in post-exercise memory than non-boxers. For several measures of impact motion, impact intensity appeared to set an upper bound on post-exercise memory performance – stronger impacts led to lower expected memory performance. This trend was most significant when impact intensity was measured through a novel technique, applying principal component analysis to boxer motion. Principal component analysis measures also captured more distinct impact information than seven traditional impact measures also tested.

Characterizing Head Impact Exposure in Men and Women During Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts

“…The literature is replete with attempts to quantify the head impact biomechanics of athletes 1,6,11,13,31 and military personnel 7,16,23 over the past 50 years. The most frequently used head impact sensor system to date is the Head Impact Telemetry System (HIT System), typically affixed within a Riddell helmet (BRG Sports).…”

Progress and Future Directions of the NCAA-DoD Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium and Mind Matters Challenge at the US Service Academies

“…USMA has focused additional efforts on monitoring men's and women's rugby athletes, and USAFA has integrated their mouthguard monitors into club and physical education boxing. Initial findings show that certain subconcussive impacts may affect memory, but more work is needed to explicate this relationship (52). The intent is to utilize the technology to capture head impact exposure, determine impact thresholds that may require sideline evaluation, and to utilize the information to coach athletes on safer playing techniques.…”

Future Portrait of the Athletic Brain: Mechanistic Understanding of Human Sport Performance Via Animal Neurophysiology of Motor Behavior

“…In the first case, sport serves to model increased level of physical activity, with a typical intervention goal being prevention of nonneural pathologies associated with sedentary lifestyle, while a more recent focus has been to use sport as a way of promoting "brain health" (Boecker et al, 2012;Malm et al, 2019;Logan et al, 2020). In the second case, sport entails increased risks for traumatic CNS injuries (especially sports like Boxing or American Football), and it is possible to predict the magnitude of the behavioral impairments based on the intensity of the head impacts (Gavett et al, 2011;Castellani and Perry, 2017;Mckee et al, 2018;Leeds et al, 2019). Also, epidemiological data support the hypothesis that some athletes, like football players, have an increased risk of developing certain neurodegenerative diseases, including possibly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Blecher et al, 2019).…”