Advisor | Murray, Nicholas P | |
Author | Sandri Heidner, Gustavo | |
Date Accessioned | 2022-09-12T14:39:16Z | |
Date Available | 2022-09-12T14:39:16Z | |
Date Created | 2022-07 | |
Date of Issue | 2022-07-22 | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.date.submitted | July 2022 | |
Identifier (URI) | http://hdl.handle.net/10342/11119 | |
Description | Concussions result in short-lived to long-lasting neurological function impairment and disturbances, typically undetectable by standard neuroimaging protocols, which can persist for several months post-trauma. Eye-tracking and virtual reality can be a powerful tool in the assessment of short- and long-term concussed individuals. However, it needs a clear and concise methodology. When acting as an optical flow-induced perturbation of balance metrics and combined with electroencephalographic data, it can differentiate between a non-concussed fatigue state and a concussive state. Furthermore, when employed as a secondary cognitive task, it elicits neural modulations and postural control perturbations that can detect concussion-related impairments up to eight years post-trauma. In this dissertation we sought to (i) develop a virtual reality environment that implements known eye-tracking methodologies and validate its accuracy in differentiating between non-concussed and concussed cohorts, (ii) investigate the presence of neural signatures that could differentiate between a concussive state and a fatigue state, and (iii) determine if long-lasting oculomotor and peripheral muscle control impairments could be reliably detected in a concussed cohort several years post-trauma. Our overarching hypotheses were that (i) eye-tracking metrics observed in a virtual reality environment can differentiate between non-concussed and concussed cohorts, (ii) spectral power of cortical activations are different between non-concussed participants in a fatigued state and concussed participants, and (iii) oculomotor impairments and corticomuscular correlates of balance metrics can be detected in a concussed several months post-trauma. Our findings support the majority of the initial proposed investigation. We detected corticomuscular coherence and postural control differences capable of differentiating between non-concussed and long-term concussed participants, established a link between corticomuscular coherence and postural control adaptations observed in the concussed group, determined some limitations of virtual reality paradigms in concussion assessment. | |
Mimetype | application/pdf | |
Language | en | |
Publisher | East Carolina University | |
Subject | concussion | |
Subject | mTBI | |
Subject | corticomuscular coherence | |
Library of Congress Subject Headings | Brain--Concussion--Complications | |
Library of Congress Subject Headings | Eye--Movements--Testing | |
Library of Congress Subject Headings | Eye tracking | |
Library of Congress Subject Headings | Virtual reality in medicine | |
Title | LONG-LASTING EFFECTS OF MTBI ON OCULOMOTOR ABILITY AND NEUROMUSCULAR CONTROL | |
Type | Doctoral Dissertation | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.date.updated | 2022-08-30T19:21:15Z | |
Department | Kinesiology | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.degree.name | Ph.D. | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.degree.level | Doctoral | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.degree.discipline | PHD-Bioenergetics and Exer Sci | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.degree.grantor | East Carolina University | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.degree.department | Kinesiology | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.access.option | Open Access | |
xmlui.metadata.dc.type.material | text | |