Carlos Zerpa

Implementing a structured exercise program for persistent concussion symptoms: a pilot study on the effects on salivary brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cognition, static balance, and symptom scores

ABSTRACT Primary objective: Persistent concussion symptoms (PCS) affect 10–30% of individuals after sports-related concussion. This study evaluated the effect of exercise-based rehabilitation on symptom scores, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cognitive functions and static balance in a sample of participants with PCS. Research design: One group pre-test post-test pilot study. Methods and procedure: Nine participants with PCS received a structured exercise-based rehabilitation program. Changes in symptom scores, BDNF, cognitive functions and measures of static balance were used to evaluate the utility of the exercise program. Main outcome and results: The results of this pilot study indicate a significant improvement in symptom scores following treatment, as well as some associated benefits in regards to cognitive function and static balance. BDNF levels in the participants with PCS within this study are notably lower than in a previous study on healthy controls. Conclusions: The preliminary evidence reported in the current pilot study is clinically relevant as our findings suggest exercise-based treatments may improve PCS outcomes in a more favourable manner than rest-based treatment.

Low Levels of Attentional Interference have Similar Effects on Static Balance Control of Typically Developing Children and Those with Symptoms of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

Conceptually, attentional interference should affect balance of typically developing children and even more so those with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). However, due to equivocal findings and limited methodologies this issue remains unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cognitive task on static balance control in typically developing children and those with symptoms of DCD by using traditional and non-traditional measures of postural sway. Ten typically developing children and ten with symptoms of DCD, between 8 and 10 y of age, were recruited. A dual-task methodology was implemented involving quiet standing as a motor task and a numeric classification as an attentional task. Mean and intra-individual variability for three traditional (Ao, Ap sway, Lat) and nontraditional measures of sway (fdis, fmode, Pp) were derived from 10 trials performed with and without attentional interference. The results showed no interaction effects, and aside from area of sway, the differences between the groups or attentional conditions were marginal. In terms of non-traditional measures, the impact of interference was evident from two out of three measures (fdis, fmode), but the emerging values were still within what would be considered as adult-like performance. Collectively, the expected differences between the groups did not emerge, and like-wise the impact of attentional interference was measure-specific as majority of analyses failed to reveal any reliable effects. The emerging small effect sizes further confirmed that the differences between the group means were marginal. However, due to the characteristics of sample these inferences should be treated with caution as they may not generalize to all children with this diagnosis (e.g., ADHD and DCD).