Improving treatment of concussions by recording how brain processes sound

The most effective way to diagnose a concussion is through a patient's experience, a CT scan or MRI scan, but a new test that records the way the brain processes sounds could potentially aid in helping scientists treat sports-related concussions.

Neuroscientist Nina Kraus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, published her findings in Scientific Reports. Along with other researchers, Kraus found that a certain signal in brain activity could objectively distinguish a child who has a concussion from one who doesn’t.

Because sound is more difficult to process when one has had a concussion, researchers measured brain activity and sound. The team tested 20 children who clinicians scanned and found to be concussed following sports accidents and 20 children who were healthy.

“Neural processing of sound correctly identifies 90 percent of concussion cases and clears 95 percent of control cases, suggesting this approach has practical potential as a scalable biological marker for sports-related concussion and other types of mild traumatic brain injuries,” wrote Kraus et al.

Although the results were positive, researchers hope to be able to test a larger sample to conclude their study.

“From a theoretical standpoint, these findings illustrate how auditory processes are susceptible to neurological insults and hint at the pathophysiology underlying difficulties in everyday listening. From a clinical standpoint, these findings define a new measure that may assist in diagnosis and management of concussions,” said Kraus.