By Brad Broker
The Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, will conduct a study on sports-related concussions in youth, from elementary school through young adulthood, including military personnel and their dependents. The committee will review the available literature on concussions, in the context of developmental neurobiology, in terms of their causes, relationships to hits to the head or body during sports, effectiveness of protective devices and equipment, screening and diagnosis, treatment and management, and long-term consequences. Specific topics of interest include:
- the acute, subacute, and chronic effects of single and repetitive concussive and non-concussive head impacts on the brain;
- risk factors for sports concussion, post-concussive syndrome, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy;
- the spectrum of cognitive, affective, and behavioral alterations that can occur during acute, subacute, and chronic posttraumatic phases;
- physical and biological triggers and thresholds for injury;
- the effectiveness of equipment and sports regulations for prevention of injury;
- hospital and non-hospital based diagnostic tools; and
- treatments for sports concussion.
For information on this study, contact the IOM website or email them at YouthSportsConcussions@nas.edu.
