Mind the gaps—advancing research into short-term and long-term neuropsychological outcomes of youth sports-related concussions

• Published in: Nature reviews. Neurology Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 230 - 244
• Main Authors: Carman, Aaron J., Ferguson, Rennie, Cantu, Robert, Comstock, R. Dawn, Dacks, Penny A., DeKosky, Steven T., Gandy, Sam, Gilbert, James, Gilliland, Chad, Gioia, Gerard, Giza, Christopher, Greicius, Michael, Hainline, Brian, Hayes, Ronald L., Hendrix, James, Jordan, Barry, Kovach, James, Lane, Rachel F., Mannix, Rebekah, Murray, Thomas, Seifert, Tad, Shineman, Diana W., Warren, Eric, Wilde, Elisabeth, Willard, Huntington, Fillit, Howard M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.04.2015; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/308/1892; 692/308/2056; 692/617/375/1345; 692/617/375/365; 692/699/578; Biological markers; Care and treatment; Concussion; consensus-statement; Diagnosis; Health aspects; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurology; Patient outcomes; United States
• ISSN: 1759-4758; 1759-4766
• DOI: 10.1038/nrneurol.2015.30

Sports-related concussion is increasingly recognized as a potential danger to paediatric populations, but its short-term and long-term consequences remain poorly understood. This Expert Consensus Document is the result of a 1-day meeting convened by Safe Kids Worldwide, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, and the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, with the aim of highlighting knowledge gaps and areas of critically needed research in youth sports-related concussion. Sports-related concussions and repetitive subconcussive exposure are increasingly recognized as potential dangers to paediatric populations, but much remains unknown about the short-term and long-term consequences of these events, including potential cognitive impairment and risk of later-life dementia. This Expert Consensus Document is the result of a 1-day meeting convened by Safe Kids Worldwide, the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, and the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine. The goal is to highlight knowledge gaps and areas of critically needed research in the areas of concussion science, dementia, genetics, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, neuroimaging, sports injury surveillance, and information sharing. For each of these areas, we propose clear and achievable paths to improve the understanding, treatment and prevention of youth sports-related concussions.