Item Details

title

Changes in Cognition and Resting-State Functional MRI Measures of Neural Activity and Connectivity After Concussion-Free Participation in a Season of High School Football

author

Kawas, Mohammad Iyas

abstract

Abstract:Adolescence is a crucial period of brain development, requiring a healthy, active environment for optimal growth. High school football, the most popular male team sport, presents physical health benefits and potential harm due to its contact-intensive nature. American football has the highest rate of sports-related concussions, attributed to numerous head impacts experienced in a season. These impacts could affect adolescent brain development and network connectivity even without diagnosed concussions. The short- and long-term effects of HIE in American football, in general, are under active research. This dissertation examines the particular effects of concussion-free participation in a season of high school football on brain functions as assessed by fMRI and cognitive testing. It then correlates these effects with the amount of cumulative HIE of the season, computed utilizing data from the HITS™ system. In Chapter 2, whole-brain exploratory analyses were leveraged to investigate the impact of non-concussive head impact exposure (HIE) during a single season of high school football on fMRI measures of brain plasticity and connectivity (ALFF, IC, and LCOR). Then, any noticeable changes were correlated with RWEcp, a measure of the cumulative HIE over the season. There were concurrent increases in ALFF, IC, and LCOR in motor and visual areas bilaterally, suggesting an increase in coherent neural activity in these regions. These increases did not correlate with RWEcp, and the observed enhancements in neuroplasticity may be related to the visuomotor skills learned during the season. Chapter 3 focuses on the connectivity of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the salience network. These may demonstrate functional disruptions owing to their dependence on healthy interhemispheric connections through the anterior corpus callosum, an area that could be particularly susceptible to HIE. This chapter also examines cognitive performance via the ImPACT test, its correlation with HIE, and changes in dACC and salience network connectivity. Findings suggest that a season's HIE may disrupt cognitive performance, accompanied by a reduction in salience network connectivity and IHC of the dACC. Taken together, the enhancements in plasticity after a season of high school football we report here may be associated with improved athletic performance but seem to be accompanied by subtle cognitive and connectivity disruptions.

subject

Cognition

Connectivity

fMRI

Head Impact Exposure

Plasticity

contributor

Whitlow, Christopher T. (advisor)

Miles, Christopher M. (committee member)

Kim, Jeongchul (committee member)

Urban, Jillian (committee member)

date

2023-09-08T08:35:29Z (accessioned)

2023 (issued)

degree

Neuroscience (discipline)

embargo

2025-09-07 (terms)

2025-09-07 (liftdate)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/102630 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Dissertation