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The study investigates motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in collegiate athletes to assess the impact of sport-related concussions. By comparing 9 concussed athletes with 9 controls, researchers analyzed MEP thresholds, latencies, and amplitudes alongside self-reported symptoms and neurocognitive test scores. The findings reveal significant MEP changes that indicate acute cerebral concussion effects, suggesting that neurochemical and neurometabolic alterations post-injury may contribute to observed symptoms and cognitive deficits in athletes.

The assessment of sport-related concussions is hindered by lack of a neuroanatomic or neurophysiologic assessment of injury severity and recovery timeframe. We set out to determine if motor evoked potentials are different between acutely concussed and non-concussed collegiate athletes and determine if any relationships exist between MEP changes, self-reported symptoms and neurocognitive deficits. MEP thresholds, latencies, and amplitudes, scores on a self-reported symptoms checklist; and scores from a neurocognitive test battery were evaluated in 18 collegiate athletes (9 concussed, 9 controls). The observed MEP changes provide electrophysiological evidence for the acute effects of cerebral concussion in an athletic population. Alterations in neurochemical and neurometabolic processes following concussions may explain these abnormal MEPs, post-concussive symptoms, and deficits in neurocognitive function.