Sensorimotor learning deficits observed in children with sports-related concussion [version 2; referees: 2 approved with reservations]

Mild traumatic brain injury, commonly known as concussion, occurs frequently in children while playing sports. Whereas the negative impact of sport-related concussions on cognitive function is well known, the effects of concussions on sensorimotor function, especially in children, remain largely unknown. In this observational/case study, we investigated the association between neurocognitive function, assessed using a trail making test, and sensorimotor function, assessed using a visuomotor adaptation task, in three children who suffered from a concussion while playing sports. For the trail making test, children drew lines to connect numbers and letters alternately on a page. For the visuomotor adaptation task, children performed targeted reaching movements repeatedly under a novel visuomotor condition in which the visual display of reaching movements was rotated 30 degrees about the start position. Their neurocognitive and visuomotor performances were compared to those obtained from three children without a concussion. Results showed that only one of the three concussed children showed a score from the trail making test that was worse than the scores obtained from control subjects. However, the pattern of visuomotor adaptation observed in the concussed children was different from that observed in the control subjects in several ways. These data indicate that the concussed children may have some deficits in terms of their sensorimotor function as compared to the control subjects. Our findings provide preliminary data that suggest that children with concussion may have sensorimotor impairments even when they do not seem to have neurocognitive impairments. Jinsung Wang ( ) Corresponding author: [email protected] Wang J, Thomas D and Cho YI. How to cite this article: Sensorimotor learning deficits observed in children with sports-related 2015, :143 (doi: ) concussion [version 2; referees: 2 approved with reservations] F1000Research 4 10.12688/f1000research.6575.2 © 2015 Wang J . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the , which Copyright: et al Creative Commons Attribution Licence permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Data associated with the article are available under the terms of the (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication). Creative Commons Zero "No rights reserved" data waiver The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work. Grant information: Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed. 05 Jun 2015, :143 (doi: ) First published: 4 10.12688/f1000research.6575.1 1 2