Bibliography: Brooks, D.A, (2007), Use of computers based testing of youth hockey players with concussions, NeuroRehabilitation, Volume 22, pg. 169-179

Introduction A concussion is a minor traumatic brain injury that occurs when an immobile or mobile object hits the skull; it commonly results from a fall, sports events or car accidents. This serious injury alters the functioning of the brain temporary. Severe headaches, modifications in alertness and unconsciousness result afterwards. According to recent studies, about 300 000 concussions happen yearly, and these only have to do with sporting activities, such as football, rugby, soccer and ice hockey. Koh’s efficient evaluation disclosed that ice hockey was the most dangerous sport, concussion-wise because of all the body checking. It is a directly proportional relation: when the number of concussions increases, the use of neuropsychological testing increases correspondingly. The effects of concussions are very dangerous and numerous symposiums have taken place to examine them and enhance them. The sports experts have done neuropsychological researches and tests’ concerning the effects of concussions and how to determine if a player is physically capable of returning to the team and playing. These tests involve an analysis of various cognitive functions such as visual motor speed composite, reaction speed composite, visual memory composite and verbal memory composite.

Method
Subjects
The subjects in question of the experiment were mostly teenage (11-17 years old) hockey players from both private and public sectors: the private Hockey Academy teams, the Pee Wee teams and the Midget teams.
Procedure: Use of ImPACT Psychological test The ImPACT Psychological test is an exam that was highly suggested amongst hockey players. The ImPACT stands for Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing; this test analyses the abilities of the diverse cognitive functions of the brain after a concussion has occurred. The victim has to go through a pre-concussion baseline test that is repeated various times in order to detect the evolution of the results of the concussion on the human brain so that the specialists could associate it to the baseline. Thus, experts can perceive the effects and conclude whether the player can go back on the field, or arena.
Results
The results illustrate a disproportion between the private and the public districts, in both concussion rates and concerns. As demonstrated in the article, in the Pee Wee Midget team A+B, 1 out of 35 performers have reported a concussion, hence 2,9% of the team in the 2005-2006 season. On the other hand, in the private Academy –midget level in the 2005-2006 season as well, 14 out of 42 athletes have claimed a traumatic brain injury, thus 33,3% of the hockey team. What is questionable about this is that the private sector has reported more injuries than the public sector, which leads to think that the public sector doesn’t accord high importance to concussions and that it isn’t a concern to them. In this study, two players –player A and player B, went through baseline testing and had four cognitive functions examined for another time. Player A was tested 48 hours after suffering from a concussion; his tests revealed the disparity between his cognitive functions before the concussion and after the concussion. Post-concussion test illustrated that the player’s cognitive functions have reduced in a drastic manner compared to baseline. After 19 days, the player’s cognitive functions gradually evolved into their natural phase. In the case of player B, he suffered a concussion and passed the same test as player B after four hours. Player B was very concerned and after his post-concussion, his performance deteriorated compared to his baseline. On his second retest, after a week, his performance was worse than his first one. Both players took about 3 weeks