The Effect of Volitional Fatigue on Reaction Time and Neural Activity in Concussed Individuals: A Study of Cognitive Changes Post-mTBI
Author
Warlick, Karen Riley
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) presents as an important public health concern in the United States, with an estimated 1.7 million people diagnosed annually (Diaz-Arrastia & Vos, 2014) and approximately 50% of all concussions that occur in the United States are unreported or misdiagnosed each year. The purpose of this project was to determine the extent that voluntary exhaustion exacerbates declined cognitive functioning known to exist in concussed individuals compared to non-concussed controls, additionally understanding the extent to which musculoskeletal fatigue can decrease cognition and further delay in reaction time in individuals with mild traumatic brain injuries. Twenty (N-20) participants were recruited to complete two trials of a virtual reality response time task before and after exercise to volitional fatigue. Fifteen(n=15) individuals were non-concussed with no history of concussion, and five(n=5) individuals had a history of concussion in the past year. After a 60s go/no-go task in Virtual Reality, each completed a fatiguing exercise protocol outside of virtual reality, and then repeated the VR task. Theta wave activity heatmaps revealed a significant decrease (p < 0.01) in activity across the left central/ motor complex region in the concussed group following exercise. The non-concussed group experienced no significant change (p > 0.5) in theta activity following exercise across all regions. Alpha wave activity heatmaps revealed a significant increase (p < 0.01) in activity across both the left and right frontal regions in the concussed group following exercise. No significant change (p > 0.1) in alpha activity following exercise across all regions was observed in the non-concussed group. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was completed for all measures collected (Mean Score, Mean Score Accuracy[ScA], Linger Time[LT], Motor Reaction Time[MRT], and Visual Reaction Time[VRT]) across group (C=Concussed/H=Non-Concussed) and condition (Pre/Post-Exercise). Although averages among groups for Score (F(1,18) = 1.43, p > 0.05), ScA (F(1,18) = 0.633, p > 0.05), and MRT (F(1,11) = 4.59, p > 0.05) appeared to possibly be related, none of them yielded significant results. VRT (F(1,18) = 2.36, p > 0.05) and LT (F(1,18) = 0.033, p > 0.05) averages for both groups across both tasks did not yield significant effects. Despite this, a small within-subjects MRT * Group effect was found (η2 = 0.294, p = 0.055) indicating potentially practical significance.
The findings of this project point to the understanding of a drastic increase in cognitive workload following fatigue in concussed individuals, indicating that those suffering from concussion experience increased utilization of cognitive resources to accurately perform the same visual and motor reaction tasks that they completed prior to exercise, while non-concussed participants experience little-to-no change following fatigue. The results demonstrate that following exercise to volitional fatigue, concussed individuals have significantly increased cognitive activity over the regions of the brain predominately involved in decision-making and reasoning skills.
Subject
Date
2023-07-11
Citation:
APA:
Warlick, Karen Riley.
(July 2023).
The Effect of Volitional Fatigue on Reaction Time and Neural Activity in Concussed Individuals: A Study of Cognitive Changes Post-mTBI
(Master's Thesis, East Carolina University). Retrieved from the Scholarship.
(http://hdl.handle.net/10342/13125.)
MLA:
Warlick, Karen Riley.
The Effect of Volitional Fatigue on Reaction Time and Neural Activity in Concussed Individuals: A Study of Cognitive Changes Post-mTBI.
Master's Thesis. East Carolina University,
July 2023. The Scholarship.
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/13125.
April 29, 2024.
Chicago:
Warlick, Karen Riley,
“The Effect of Volitional Fatigue on Reaction Time and Neural Activity in Concussed Individuals: A Study of Cognitive Changes Post-mTBI”
(Master's Thesis., East Carolina University,
July 2023).
AMA:
Warlick, Karen Riley.
The Effect of Volitional Fatigue on Reaction Time and Neural Activity in Concussed Individuals: A Study of Cognitive Changes Post-mTBI
[Master's Thesis]. Greenville, NC: East Carolina University;
July 2023.
Collections
Publisher
East Carolina University