Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate Football
The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS), specifically the white matter tracts in the cervical spinal cord, was examined with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) following exposure to repetitive head acceleration events (HAEs) after a single season of collegiate football. Fifteen National Coll...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Mary Ann Liebert
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Neurotrauma Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/NEUR.2020.0035 |
| _version_ | 1797346188446400512 |
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| author | Brian Johnson Alexa E. Walter James R. Wilkes Linda Papa Semyon M. Slobounov |
| author_facet | Brian Johnson Alexa E. Walter James R. Wilkes Linda Papa Semyon M. Slobounov |
| author_sort | Brian Johnson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS), specifically the white matter tracts in the cervical spinal cord, was examined with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) following exposure to repetitive head acceleration events (HAEs) after a single season of collegiate football. Fifteen National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 football players underwent DTI of the cervical spinal cord (vertebral level C1?4) at pre-season (before any contact practices began) and post-season (within 1 week of the last regular season game) intervals. Helmet accelerometer data were also collected in parallel throughout the season. From pre-season to post-season, a significant decrease (p?<?0.05) of axial diffusivity was seen within the right spino-olivary tract. In addition, a significant decrease (p?<?0.05) in global white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) along with increases (p?<?0.05) in global white matter mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD) were found. These changes in FA from pre-season to post-season were significantly moderated by previous concussion history (p?<?0.05) and number of HAEs over 80 g (p?<?0.05). Despite the absence of sports-related concussion (SRC), we present measurable changes in the white matter integrity of the cervical spinal cord suggesting injury from repetitive HAEs, or SRC, may include the entirety of the CNS, not just the brain. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:29:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bdf98a412b204bd78c413f73becbf411 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2689-288X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:29:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Mary Ann Liebert |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Neurotrauma Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-bdf98a412b204bd78c413f73becbf4112024-01-26T04:26:10ZengMary Ann LiebertNeurotrauma Reports2689-288X2021-02-0121849310.1089/NEUR.2020.0035Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate FootballBrian JohnsonAlexa E. WalterJames R. WilkesLinda PapaSemyon M. SlobounovThe involvement of the central nervous system (CNS), specifically the white matter tracts in the cervical spinal cord, was examined with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) following exposure to repetitive head acceleration events (HAEs) after a single season of collegiate football. Fifteen National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 football players underwent DTI of the cervical spinal cord (vertebral level C1?4) at pre-season (before any contact practices began) and post-season (within 1 week of the last regular season game) intervals. Helmet accelerometer data were also collected in parallel throughout the season. From pre-season to post-season, a significant decrease (p?<?0.05) of axial diffusivity was seen within the right spino-olivary tract. In addition, a significant decrease (p?<?0.05) in global white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) along with increases (p?<?0.05) in global white matter mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD) were found. These changes in FA from pre-season to post-season were significantly moderated by previous concussion history (p?<?0.05) and number of HAEs over 80 g (p?<?0.05). Despite the absence of sports-related concussion (SRC), we present measurable changes in the white matter integrity of the cervical spinal cord suggesting injury from repetitive HAEs, or SRC, may include the entirety of the CNS, not just the brain.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/NEUR.2020.0035cervical spinal corddiffusion tensor imagingfootballhead acceleration eventssubconcussion |
| spellingShingle | Brian Johnson Alexa E. Walter James R. Wilkes Linda Papa Semyon M. Slobounov Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate Football Neurotrauma Reports cervical spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging football head acceleration events subconcussion |
| title | Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate Football |
| title_full | Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate Football |
| title_fullStr | Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate Football |
| title_full_unstemmed | Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate Football |
| title_short | Changes in White Matter of the Cervical Spinal Cord after a Single Season of Collegiate Football |
| title_sort | changes in white matter of the cervical spinal cord after a single season of collegiate football |
| topic | cervical spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging football head acceleration events subconcussion |
| url | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/NEUR.2020.0035 |
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