Background

In children, brain injury is complex and common, and is a leading source of disability and death. Sports-related concussions in children and adolescents account for 30-60% of all pediatric concussions and affect up to 1.9 million children annually. 

Although mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is an important public health issue for both the general pediatric population and youth athletes, it is difficult to obtain objective diagnoses of mTBI or quantify the implications of cumulative sub-concussive (low-level) insults. 

Establishing a link between the clinical diagnoses and objective diagnostic tools that are sensitive over a spectrum of circumstances is crucial in developing strategies to reduce harm. 

Project Description

Building on the work of past teams, this project team will assess youth athletes with an oculomotor (i.e., eye-tracking) assessment routine and compare these results to in-season documentation of head impact exposure using data from a team-developed earpiece (DASHR) worn by athletes during practices and games. 

In addition to testing the use of oculomotor assessment as a diagnostic tool, team members will examine how this objective assessment may increase our understanding of the implications of head impact exposure beyond a single season into a career of play. The team’s work will contribute to a longitudinal study through which adolescent athletes have been continuously assessed, in some cases as long as seven years.

In 2023-2024, the study will expand to include more youth football players, including a high school control group (track and field; cross-country) and a female sport (softball).

Anticipated Outputs

Abstracts and peer-reviewed manuscripts; conference presentations or posters; data analysis to support grant proposals

Student Opportunities

Ideally, this team will include 2-3 graduate students and 6-10 undergraduate students from disciplines such as biology, chemistry, neuroscience, computer science, statistics and/or public policy. All students are welcome to apply. Applicants should be enthusiastic about the opportunity to engage with community collaborators that range in age from 5 to 18 years and their adult parents and guardians, coaches and administrative staff. 

As part of this project, students will engage in the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process with research staff and faculty; participate in study design development for meetings with community collaborators; engage in acquiring and analyzing data from the field; and contribute to academic manuscript development. 

The project has an optional summer component that will help orient new team members. Students participating in the summer will play a key role in building relationships with community partners and collecting data as the football season begins.

Students will also have the opportunity to participate in local conferences; additional travel is to be determined.

Timing

Summer 2023 – Spring 2024

• Summer 2023 (optional): Integrate new members into the team; continue analysis of data from past year and revisit challenges; fit DASHR devices and begin data collection for 2023 football season
• Fall 2023: Complete in-season and post-season oculomotor assessment of youth football players; analyze assessments, associated surveys and exposure data; engage in student-driven independent study projects
• Spring 2024: Conduct follow-up oculomotor assessment; analyze data; engage with new cohorts (high school softball and track and field participants); continue independent study projects

Crediting

Academic credit available for fall and spring semesters; summer funding available

This Team in the News

The Test and the Tackle: A New Way to Measure Head Injury in Youth Football

Meet the Members of the 2023-2024 Student Advisory Council

See earlier related team, Eye Tracking: Objective Assessment for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Youth Athletes (2022-2023).

Image: DSC_7697, by Tony Salas, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0