Concussion research helps to protect kids’ brains

A growing number of kids’ brains have likely been spared injury thanks to enhanced safety guidelines informed by a large-scale Brain Canada-funded research platform. A series of studies made possible by the Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping (CFMM) at Western University (Western) in London, Ontario found that even minor concussions cause changes to the brain’s structure and function. These findings from the CFMM, which operates some of the most sophisticated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instrumentation in the world, informed a series of policies to protect youth while playing contact sports like soccer and hockey.

“Our platform allowed a dramatic increase in cohort size for MRIs in a series of important concussion studies, one with bantam hockey players – which is the first year Hockey Canada allows body checking – and another with female university rugby players,”

– Dr. Ravi Menon

An unprecedented cohort size and sophisticated imaging technology allowed Dr. Menon and Dr. Kathryn Manning, who was a PhD candidate at the time of the work, to study the brains of concussed players in a non-invasive way at a large scale and at high resolution.

Uncovering new knowledge about the effects of concussion

The results of these studies showed that concussion causes clear changes in both structure and function of the brain. They also found that changes persist at least six months after an injury. Even smaller, mild head injuries common in contact sports such as hockey and rugby produced cumulative damage over the several years these studies took place.

Another key finding of these studies was that the simple cognitive tests used to assess concussion shortly after injury returned to normal long before the MRI signals did. The results raised the question of whether athletes are being returned to play too soon. The simple cognitive tests did not detect any symptoms in those who received multiple mild head injuries caused by hits, while the MRI testing did.

Changing policy

Study results were cited by the governing body for youth soccer in the UK to ban heading under the age of 10 and discourage it in practices for those under the age of 13 years old. The U.S. Soccer Federation also limited headers for players aged 11-13 years old. In hockey, Canada has maintained its ban on body checking in youth below the age of 13 years old, something that Dr. Menon discussed with former MP and hockey legend Ken Dryden.

In addition to informing policy at national and international levels, these studies on concussion have already been cited over 200 times in the scientific literature, illustrating their impact on the research field. The results also received significant media attention, influencing conversations in Canada and around the world about whether concussion protocols in youth sports go far enough to protect developing brains. Return-to-play policies and protocols could become more stringent in the future, involving concussed players sitting on the sidelines for longer periods.

“A lot of concussion management has been based on anecdotal experience or qualitative assessments. Our imaging studies show that quantifiable structural and brain network changes occur in the brains of young adults and that these changes persist far longer than was previously suspected. Since these changes are occurring in still developing brains, it suggests we should be more conservative in our return to play guidelines, and we should perhaps shift the beginning of impacts in sports to a point where the brain is more mature.”

– Dr. Ravi Menon

The findings of Dr. Menon and others illustrates the value of brain research in developing evidence-based policy that prioritizes player safety and their long-term brain health in the context of sport.