Submission Date

7-22-2016

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

Neuroscience

Faculty Mentor

Joel Bish

Student Contributor

Rachel Raucci

Second Student Contributor

Lisa Grous

Comments

Presented during the 18th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 22, 2016 at Ursinus College.

Project Description

In recent years, there has been an upswing in the number of concussion diagnoses per year in the United States, particularly in young athletes. Accompanying this recent trend is an increased amount of research on concussions and their long-term impacts. Many efforts have been geared toward educating individuals on the dangers of concussions, as well as creating preventative measures to lessen the amount of cases in the future. Over the course of the summer, we collected and compared data from 40 concussed and non-concussed students. This data included the results from various neuropsychological batteries, as well as self-report surveys and participants’ EEG readings. We expect that previously concussed students will have significantly different results than non-concussed students. Specifically, we believe that students who have suffered a concussion will exhibit deficits in executive control and impulse control tasks. We are in the process of transforming the results of the empirical data we have collected as well as the current attitudes toward concussions we can extract from our surveys to build an educational outreach program. This multi-faceted program is geared toward coaches, athletic trainers, parents, and student-athletes in an attempt to educate each unique group about the severity of concussions and help to change the current attitude toward these injuries.

Download

Restricted

Available to Ursinus community only.

Share

COinS