title: Cerebrovascular regulation, exercise, and mild traumatic brain injury.
abstract: A substantial number of people who sustain a mild traumatic brain injury report persistent symptoms. Most common among these symptoms are headache, dizziness, and cognitive difficulties. One possible contributor to sustained symptoms may be compromised cerebrovascular regulation. In addition to injury-related cerebrovascular dysfunction, it is possible that prolonged rest after mild traumatic brain injury leads to deconditioning that may induce physiologic changes in cerebral blood flow control that contributes to persistent symptoms in some people. There is some evidence that exercise training may reduce symptoms perhaps because it engages an array of cerebrovascular regulatory mechanisms. Unfortunately, there is very little work on the degree of impairment in cerebrovascular control that may exist in patients with mild traumatic brain injury, and there are no published studies on the subacute phase of recovery from this injury. This review aims to integrate the current knowledge of cerebrovascular mechanisms that might underlie persistent symptoms and seeks to synthesize these data in the context of exploring aerobic exercise as a feasible intervention to treat the underlying pathophysiology.
authors.affiliation: From the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School (C.O.T., J.A.T.); The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Division of Sports Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics and Orthopedics, Harvard Medical School (W.P.M.); and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Sport Concussion Clinic, Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program (G.L.I.). cotan@partners.org.
authors.forename: Can Ozan
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: From the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School (C.O.T., J.A.T.); The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Division of Sports Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics and Orthopedics, Harvard Medical School (W.P.M.); and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Sport Concussion Clinic, Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program (G.L.I.).
authors.forename: William P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Meehan
authors.affiliation: From the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School (C.O.T., J.A.T.); The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Division of Sports Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics and Orthopedics, Harvard Medical School (W.P.M.); and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Sport Concussion Clinic, Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program (G.L.I.).
authors.forename: Grant L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Iverson
authors.affiliation: From the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School (C.O.T., J.A.T.); The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, Division of Sports Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics and Orthopedics, Harvard Medical School (W.P.M.); and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Sport Concussion Clinic, Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program (G.L.I.).
authors.forename: J Andrew
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans