The Effects of Concussion Can Be Long-Lasting

Abstract

Have you ever felt "groggy" after hitting your head? We are learning more about how important it is to protect your brain from injuries, such as concussion. Concussion is also called mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). After an mTBI, most people think patients recover within a few weeks. We noticed that some college students who had had an mTBI were struggling to remember information for a few seconds. This ability is called working memory and we need it for most thinking jobs, like remembering the name of someone you just met, or what you wanted to get from the fridge. In our experiments, we tested di erent groups of students to see if they could remember things for s, like the color of squares. Participants with a history of mTBI (on average, more than years after injury) performed worse than students without a history of mTBI. The take-home message is that there can be lasting e ects of mTBI, even years after it happens. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A CONCUSSION? Accidents happen all the time, due to falls, car accidents, and sports. MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (MTBI) Also known as concussion, a condition of brain damage due to force applied to the head. Often, in accidents, people hit their heads. In the USA, mild traumatic kids.frontiersin.org April | Volume | Article |