title: ASB clinical biomechanics award winner 2016: Assessment of gaze stability within 24-48hours post-concussion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Approximately 90% of athletes with concussion experience a certain degree of visual system dysfunction immediately post-concussion. Of these abnormalities, gaze stability deficits are denoted as among the most common. Little research quantitatively explores these variables post-concussion. As such, the purpose of this study was to investigate and compare gaze stability between a control group of healthy non-injured athletes and a group of athletes with concussions 24-48hours post-injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten collegiate NCAA Division I athletes with concussions and ten healthy control collegiate athletes completed two trials of a sport-like antisaccade postural control task, the Wii Fit Soccer Heading Game. During play all participants were instructed to minimize gaze deviations away from a central fixed area. Athletes with concussions were assessed within 24-48 post-concussion while healthy control data were collected during pre-season athletic screening. Raw ocular point of gaze coordinates were tracked with a monocular eye tracking device (240Hz) and motion capture during the postural task to determine the instantaneous gaze coordinates. This data was exported and analyzed using a custom algorithm. Independent t-tests analyzed gaze resultant distance, prosaccade errors, mean vertical velocity, and mean horizontal velocity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Athletes with concussions had significantly greater gaze resultant distance (p=0.006), prosaccade errors (p<0.001), and horizontal velocity (p=0.029) when compared to healthy controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that athletes with concussions had less control of gaze during play of the Wii Fit Soccer Heading Game. This could indicate a gaze stability deficit via potentially reduced cortical inhibition that is present within 24-48hours post-concussion.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, United States. Electronic address: nmurray@georgiasouthern.edu.
authors.forename: Nicholas G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Office for Sport Concussion Research, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States.
authors.forename: Nathan R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.affiliation: School of Health Studies, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mormile
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Katelyn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Grimes
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Kinesiology, College of Health and Human Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Barry A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Munkasy
authors.affiliation: Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
authors.forename: Russell K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Gore
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Human Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Reed-Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001363:Awards and Prizes; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Concussion; Mild traumatic brain injury; Oculomotor; Vestibular ocular reflex