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The Pathophysiology of Sports Concussion

  • Concussion and Head Injury (S Lucas, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

During concussion, the brain is exposed to rapid acceleration, deceleration, and rotational forces, resulting in the stretching and distortion of neural structures. This produces in an injury of transient neurological dysfunction, as evidenced by the clinical symptomatology. It is now evident that recurrent head trauma is also associated with the development of some chronic neurodegenerative disorders. Despite increased awareness of concussion over the past decade, large voids remain in our understanding of its pathophysiology. Prospective longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the underlying biological mechanism of acute concussive injury as it relates to chronic neuropathology.

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Conflict of Interest

Tad Seifert and Victoria Shipman each declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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  1. Norton Healthcare, University of Kentucky, 3991 Dutchmans Lane, Suite 310, Louisville, KY, 40207, USA

    Tad Seifert & Victoria Shipman

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  1. Tad Seifert
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  2. Victoria Shipman
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Correspondence to Tad Seifert.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Concussion and Head Injury

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Seifert, T., Shipman, V. The Pathophysiology of Sports Concussion. Curr Pain Headache Rep 19, 36 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-015-0513-0

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