Oscar Richardson

Mrs. Walters

Sports Med, Period 2

21 February 2019

Neurological Brain Testing - ND Atheltes

Purpose: Neurological Brain Testing shows us how different parts of the brain function. It also helps

us see the relationship between sports participation and brain function.

Background: “Baseline testing is a pre-season exam conducted by a trained health care

professional.”(CDC). Baseline tests also help us find the balance of players and their ability to

concentrate. These test time the players reactions and this helps to see if a player is concussed.

“Results from baseline testing can be used if an athlete has a suspected concussion. Comparing

post-injury test results to baseline test results can assist health care professionals in identifying the

effects of the injury and making more informed return to school and play decisions.”(CDC).

Hypothesis: During contact sports, players that hit their head more will have more errors on the test.

Players that don’t get hit in the head will have less errors on the tests.

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

1. Trials A and B test visual scanning, information processing speed, psychomotor

speed andattention. SCAT tests memory skills and uses cognitive reasoning.
WDT also tests memory because we had to recite numbers forwards and
backwards. Stroop Color Test tested how fast we can process words and our
visual scanning. The Stroop Word test also tested these skills and displayed how
quickly we could read.

2. JT is a male, 18 years of age. He doesn’t play any sports. He has never received
treatment regarding head injury.

3. Players that hit their head a lot tend to make more errors because of the hard
impacts their head has taken. Soccer players tend to make more errors on the
test because they head the ball in their games.

4. Football players get hit on every single play usually. Football players go through a
lot of hard hits and tend to get concussions throughout their football careers.
Soccer players get injured as well, but no where near as often as football players.

5. Both male and female athletes have equal chances of hitting their heads. Both
can play contact sports where players get hurt some of the time.

Neurological testing is very important because it helps you determine when a player
has a concussion. If a player gets a concussion mid season, you can compare the
neurological test to the one the player took in the beginning of the season. I think
baseline testing all students is necessary because anyone can get a concussion. I
don’t play sports at school but I am very active and can easily get a concussion so
just having the information I believe is extremely helpful for keeping the students
healthy.