title: Sex differences in baseline neuropsychological function and concussion symptoms of collegiate athletes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate sex differences in baseline neuropsychological function and concussion symptoms between male and female collegiate athletes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A post-test only design was used to examine baseline neuropsychological test scores and concussion symptoms. A total of 1209 NCAA Division I collegiate athletes from five northeastern universities in the USA completed a baseline ImPACT test. ImPACT, a computerised neuropsychological test battery, was administered during an athlete's pre-season.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Female athletes performed significantly better than male athletes on baseline verbal memory scores (p = 0.001), while male athletes performed significantly better than female athletes on baseline visual memory scores (p = 0.001). Female athletes endorsed a significant number of mild baseline symptoms as compared to male athletes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Male and female athletes exhibit differences on baseline neuropsychological test performance and concussion symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA. covassin@msu.edu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Covassin
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Swanik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sachs
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kendrick
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schatz
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zillmer
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kaminaris
mesh_terms: D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics