Young football players are hypothesized to experience damage to the brain and brain
function from repeated subconcussive head acceleration events (HAEs) during practices and
games. Such damage may cause delayed cognitive and mental problems. Resting state
fMRI (rs-fMRI) is an effective non-invasive method to detect alterations in brain functional
connectivity. Seed-based rsfMRI analysis using the central node of the default mode network
(DMN) as the seed is a common approach to measuring intrinsic changes of the DMN,
accepted as a key network in brain function. Seed-based rs-fMRI analysis of the DMN
was used to explore how age, HAE intensity, and HAE counts influence brain connectivity in
youth athletes (ages 12-18). Middle school and high school football players and peer controls
were studied using rs-fMRI before and after one season of competition. An identifiability
matrix was generated from the seed-based connectivity matrix, allowing measurement of
similarity between pre-season and post-season functional connectivity. The consistency of
seed-based brain functional connectivity we observed across the season of play for players
has no statistically significant difference from controls. The identifiability matrix exhibited
no relation to the number and magnitude of any subset of HAEs experienced which rejected
our hypothesis. Another finding is that high school football players exhibited the largest
percentage increase in identification from middle school football players in the somatomotor
network over other resting-state networks.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:purdue.edu/oai:figshare.com:article/14515254 |
| Date | 30 April 2021 |
| Creators | Xiaoyu Ji (10725504) |
| Source Sets | Purdue University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis |
| Rights | CC BY 4.0 |
| Relation | https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/EFFECTS_ON_SEED-BASED_RESTING_STATE_FMRI_OF_ONE_SEASON_OF_EXPOSURE_TO_MIDDLE_SCHOOL_AND_HIGH_SCHOOL_FOOTBALL_SUBCONCUSSIVE_HEAD_ACCELERATIONS/14515254 |
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