Location

Room 2904 A

Session Format

Paper Presentation

Research Area Topic:

Exercise Science & Human Performance - Biomechanics

Co-Presenters and Faculty Mentors or Advisors

Barry Munkasy (Georgia Southern University)

Brandonn Harris (Georgia Southern University)

Nicholas Murray (Georgia Southern University)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 90% of concussions involve oculomotor impairment, with saccadic eye movement deficits being the most prominent oculomotor impairment. Saccades are rapid eye movements that bring a fixed point or area of interest into the center of sight and are important for safely navigating through the environment. Anti-saccades are saccadic eye movement deficits that involve a reflexive, involuntary saccade away from a fixed point or area of interest. Assessments of anti-saccades may provide a fast, accurate, and reliable way to screen for concussion. However, little research quantitatively explores anti-saccades post-concussion.

PURPOSE: To investigate anti-saccades between NCAA Division I athletes 24-48 hours post-concussion and healthy, matched controls during an environmentally relevant dynamic balance assessment. METHODS: 8 athletes with concussions (4 female, 4 male; age: 19.8 å± 0.8 years) and 8 position, gender matched controls (4 female, 4 male; age: 18.5 å± 0.8 years) completed 2 trials of a 60 second dynamic, environmentally relevant balance assessment, the Wii Fit Soccer Heading Game (WFS). The athletes swayed their body in a mediolateral direction to move their avatar in a similar fashion to head soccer balls coming down the center, left, and right of the screen. During play, the participants wore a monocular eye tracking device (ASL Eye Tracker, Bedford, MA) and were instructed to not deviate their gaze away from the center fixed area of interest. Ocular raw point of gaze coordinates were tracked during play at a sampling frequency of 240 Hz for specific areas of interest (center, left, and right) to determine gaze deviations away from the center fixed area of interest. One-way ANOVAs were utilized to determine anti-saccades (AS), anti-saccade duration (ASD), and average anti-saccade duration (AASD) between athletes with concussion (PC) and their matched controls (MC).

RESULTS: One-way ANOVAs revealed significantly greater AS (p = 0.022) in the PC group (15.2 å± 1.9) when compared to the MC group (5.4 å± 0.8), significantly greater ASD (p = 0.020) in the PC group (8.8 å± 1.4 sec) when compared to the MC group (1.3 å± 0.27 sec), and significantly greater AASD (p < 0.001) in the PC group (0.04 å± 0.21 sec) when compared to the MC group (0.21 å± 0.08 sec).

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that anti-saccades are significantly more prevalent in PC compared to MC within 24-48 hours of injury while playing the WFS. This may imply that PC do not have sufficient gaze stability to adequately navigate through an environmentally relevant dynamic environment and may be at further risk for injury if returned to play. The great number and duration of anti-saccades could suggest a major deficiency in oculomotor control and could be a candidate marker for concussion.

Keywords

Concussions, Anti-saccades, Saccades

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Presentation Type and Release Option

Presentation (Open Access)

Start Date

4-16-2016 9:30 AM

End Date

4-16-2016 10:30 AM

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Apr 16th, 9:30 AM Apr 16th, 10:30 AM

Assessment of Anti-Saccades Within 24 to 48 Hours Post-Concussion

Room 2904 A

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 90% of concussions involve oculomotor impairment, with saccadic eye movement deficits being the most prominent oculomotor impairment. Saccades are rapid eye movements that bring a fixed point or area of interest into the center of sight and are important for safely navigating through the environment. Anti-saccades are saccadic eye movement deficits that involve a reflexive, involuntary saccade away from a fixed point or area of interest. Assessments of anti-saccades may provide a fast, accurate, and reliable way to screen for concussion. However, little research quantitatively explores anti-saccades post-concussion.

PURPOSE: To investigate anti-saccades between NCAA Division I athletes 24-48 hours post-concussion and healthy, matched controls during an environmentally relevant dynamic balance assessment. METHODS: 8 athletes with concussions (4 female, 4 male; age: 19.8 å± 0.8 years) and 8 position, gender matched controls (4 female, 4 male; age: 18.5 å± 0.8 years) completed 2 trials of a 60 second dynamic, environmentally relevant balance assessment, the Wii Fit Soccer Heading Game (WFS). The athletes swayed their body in a mediolateral direction to move their avatar in a similar fashion to head soccer balls coming down the center, left, and right of the screen. During play, the participants wore a monocular eye tracking device (ASL Eye Tracker, Bedford, MA) and were instructed to not deviate their gaze away from the center fixed area of interest. Ocular raw point of gaze coordinates were tracked during play at a sampling frequency of 240 Hz for specific areas of interest (center, left, and right) to determine gaze deviations away from the center fixed area of interest. One-way ANOVAs were utilized to determine anti-saccades (AS), anti-saccade duration (ASD), and average anti-saccade duration (AASD) between athletes with concussion (PC) and their matched controls (MC).

RESULTS: One-way ANOVAs revealed significantly greater AS (p = 0.022) in the PC group (15.2 å± 1.9) when compared to the MC group (5.4 å± 0.8), significantly greater ASD (p = 0.020) in the PC group (8.8 å± 1.4 sec) when compared to the MC group (1.3 å± 0.27 sec), and significantly greater AASD (p < 0.001) in the PC group (0.04 å± 0.21 sec) when compared to the MC group (0.21 å± 0.08 sec).

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that anti-saccades are significantly more prevalent in PC compared to MC within 24-48 hours of injury while playing the WFS. This may imply that PC do not have sufficient gaze stability to adequately navigate through an environmentally relevant dynamic environment and may be at further risk for injury if returned to play. The great number and duration of anti-saccades could suggest a major deficiency in oculomotor control and could be a candidate marker for concussion.