AUTHOR=Wright Alexander D. , Smirl Jonathan D. , Bryk Kelsey , Fraser Sarah , Jakovac Michael , van Donkelaar Paul TITLE=Sport-Related Concussion Alters Indices of Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2018 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2018.00196 DOI=10.3389/fneur.2018.00196 ISSN=1664-2295 ABSTRACT=
Sport-related concussion is known to affect a variety of brain functions. However, the impact of this brain injury on cerebral autoregulation (CA) is poorly understood. Thus, the goal of the current study was to determine the acute and cumulative effects of sport-related concussion on indices of dynamic CA. Toward this end, 179 elite, junior-level (age 19.6 ± 1.5 years) contact sport (ice hockey, American football) athletes were recruited for preseason testing, 42 with zero prior concussions and 31 with three or more previous concussions. Eighteen athletes sustained a concussion during that competitive season and completed follow-up testing at 72 h, 2 weeks, and 1 month post injury. Beat-by-beat arterial blood pressure (BP) and middle cerebral artery blood velocity (MCAv) were recorded using finger photoplethysmography and transcranial Doppler ultrasound, respectively. Five minutes of repetitive squat–stand maneuvers induced BP oscillations at 0.05 and 0.10 Hz (20- and 10-s cycles, respectively). The BP–MCAv relationship was quantified using transfer function analysis to estimate