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Purpose: This study evaluated the consistency between athletes' self-reported cognitive symptoms and cognitive test performance. Methods: The sample included 784 Canadian Football League athletes who underwent standardized cognitive testing with cognitive testing (ImPACT) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) at baseline. Over 2 consecutive seasons, 46 players were diagnosed with concussions following assessment with team physicians within 48 hours; 10 were eliminated due to missing data. Five cognitive symptoms (feeling slowed down, feeling in a fog, not feeling right, difficulties concentration, difficulties with memory) were used to create a composite score (Cog). The Cog index, the depression, anxiety, total index scores from the BSI, and the 5 ImPACT cognitive domains were correlated at baseline and post-injury. History of learning disabilities, ADHD, psychiatric diagnosis, and history of concussion were co-variates. Results: There were no significant correlations between Cog, depression, anxiety or total BSI scores and the ImPACT cognitive domains at baseline. At post injury there were no significant correlations between Cog or ImPACT index scores. In contrast, significant negative correlations were found between BSI Anxiety and verbal memory (r = 0.67, p < 0.01), visual memory (r = 0.68, p < 0.01), and visual-motor processing speed (r = 0.48, p < 0.05). In addition, there were significant negative correlations between the BSI total score and visual memory (r = 0.51, p < 0.05) and reaction time (r = 0.55, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Self-reported cognitive difficulties do not correlate with poorer cognitive outcomes in our sample of professional football players. However, distress at post-injury was significantly correlated to performance, suggesting psychological variables may play a role in cognitive functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine baseline and post-concussion injury characteristics of ocular eye movements using the Sync Think visual eye tracking apparatus in professional football players in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Methods: The visual tracking testing protocol uses an integrated stimulus presentation-eye tracking apparatus (EyeLink CL; SR Research, Ontario, Canada) with which eye movements were recorded at 500 Hz using infrared video-oculography. The standard deviation of radial errors (SDRE) and tangential errors (SDTE) were used to determine poor visual tracking. Participants were (n = 748) rostered players in the Canadian Football League. All participants completed assessments at baseline. Sixteen players completed post-concussion assessments and 98 players completed post-exertional assessments during the 2021 season to evaluate the impact of physical exertion on ocular movement metrics. Results: Participants with diagnosed concussions (n = 16+) demonstrated significantly poorer performance on measures of both gaze stability and smooth pursuit (p < 0.001). The poorer results were correlated with significantly higher subjective ratings of dizziness (p < 0.01) and fogginess (p < 0.001). In contrast, healthy participants who completed the same ocular motor assessments demonstrated no significant differences compared to baseline test performance. Conclusions: Findings suggest that subtle differences in oculomotor functioning arise from sport concussion in professional football players. Further research with larger sample sizes and correlation with other cognitive and physical outcomes is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]