Are Concussions very common? Concussion (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury) is one of the least understood, but most common injuries in sports. The severity of this injury is often euphemized as a "bell-ringer" or "ding". This lack of recognition leads to a gross under-reporting of MTBI in both the general population and in the sporting arena. In spite of this probable under-reporting, it is estimated that two million traumatic brain injuries occur annually in the United States at a cost of $38 billion. In sport and recreational activities alone, there are approximately 300,000 concussions, carrying a $9 to $10-billion price tag for acute care and rehabilitation.
What is a Concussion? Numerous definitions of concussion have been proposed since it was first recognized. Over the past half century, concussion has predominantly been defined as a "short lasting", "temporary", or "transient" disturbance of neuronal function brought on by a sudden acceleration, deceleration and/or rotation of the head, usually without skull fracture. This most often occurs without loss of consciousness. In reality, the terms "short lasting", "temporary" and "transient" are not quantified and recent research has shown that the effects of a mild traumatic brain injury can persist for months or even years.
What is Post Concussion Syndrome? Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS) refers to the constellation of injury-related symptoms which may be present in varying degrees including, but not limited to, impaired neurological, neurocognitive and neurobehavioral functioning and physical symptoms such as impaired attention, concentration, memory and information processing, impaired vision, vomiting, tinnitus, photophobia, vertigo, disequilibrium, lassitude, irritability, depression, headache and sleep disturbance.
Treatment Using EEG-Biofeedback Training A concussion occurs when there is a disruption of the neural connections in the brain as a result of traumatic forces applied to the head either directly or indirectly. Electroencephalography (and the subsequent quantitative analysis of the EEG) is a non-invasive method to assess the neural connections and neural functioning of the brain in real-time (MRI, CT and PET are not able to assess brain function in real-time and therefore miss the subtle neuronal damage associated with concussion). EEG assessment is combined with virtual reality (VR) technology to tax the athlete’s visual-kinesthetic integration and mental processing capabilities.
Based on this unique multi-modal assessment, a treatment protocol using Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) and VR training can be implemented to re-train the damaged neural connections and cortical pathways. The novel treatment resolves symptoms and enables the athlete to return to pre-injury functioning.
Articles Related to Concussion, Authored by Dr. Thompson
1. Thompson, James (2005). Thompson2005_EEGPosturepostMTBI.pdf
2. Thompson, James (2006). Thompson2006_MTBIBookChapter.pdf