contact sports; football; head impact exposure; intracortical inhibition; sport concussions; subconcussion; transcranial magnetic stimulation; trauma; traumatic brain injury
Abstract :
[en] [en] OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the association between head impact exposure (HIE) during varsity Canadian football games and short-term changes in cortical excitability of the primary motor cortex (M1) using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
METHODS: Twenty-nine university-level male athletes wore instrumented mouth guards during a football game to measure HIE. TMS measurements were conducted 24 hours before and 1-2 hours after the game. Twenty control football athletes were submitted to a noncontact training session and underwent identical TMS assessments. Between-group changes in short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) ratios over time were conducted using two-way ANOVAs. The relationship between HIE (i.e., number, magnitude, and cumulative forces of impacts) and SICI (secondary outcome) was also investigated using Pearson correlations.
RESULTS: Relative to controls, the group of athletes who had played a full-contact football game exhibited a significant intracortical disinhibition (p = 0.028) on the SICI 3-msec protocol (i.e., short interstimulus interval of 3 msec) within hours following the game. Moreover, exposure to ≥ 40g hits positively correlated with SICI disinhibition (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Athletes exposed to subconcussive hits associated with Canadian football exhibit abnormal M1 corticomotor inhibition function, particularly when the recorded impact magnitude was ≥ 40g. Given the deleterious effects of decreased inhibition on motor control and balance, systematically tracking head impact forces at each game and practice with contacts could prove useful for injury prevention in contact sports.
Disciplines :
Neurology
Author, co-author :
Vinet, Sophie-Andrée ✱; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada ; 2Psychology Department, University of Montréal, Québec, Canada
Martens, Géraldine ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > GIGA > GIGA Consciousness - Coma Science Group ; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada ; 3Surgery Department, University of Montréal, Québec, Canada
Guay, Samuel; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada ; 2Psychology Department, University of Montréal, Québec, Canada
Apinis-Deshaies, Amélie; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Merbah, Johan; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Caré, Bertrand R; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada ; 4BERGIA Solutions, Toulon, Var, France
Corbin-Berrigan, Laurie-Ann; 5Department of Physical Activity Sciences, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada, and
Wagnac, Eric; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada ; 6Department of Mechanical Engineering, Superior Technology School, Montréal, Québec, Canada
De Beaumont, Louis; 1Montréal Sacred Heart Hospital Research Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada ; 3Surgery Department, University of Montréal, Québec, Canada
✱ These authors have contributed equally to this work.
Language :
English
Title :
Short-term changes in the physiology of the primary motor cortex following head impact exposure during a Canadian football game.
Publication date :
16 February 2024
Journal title :
Journal of Neurosurgery
ISSN :
0022-3085
eISSN :
1933-0693
Publisher :
American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Us il
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