The results of a sports concussion can be worsened by depression

FRIDAY, Oct. 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Depression may make it harder for athletes to recover from a concussion, and vice versa, a new study finds.

Student-athletes who suffer from both a concussion and depression have significantly worse symptoms of both conditions, researchers recently reported in the journal Brain research.

In addition, electrical signals in the brain are more disrupted in people with concussions and depression than in people with just one of these conditions, the researchers noted.

“We wanted to measure – both subjectively and objectively – whether these two neurological diseases also have a compounding effect on each other, and our study showed that they do,” said lead researcher Owen Griffith, a doctoral student in kinesiology at Penn State.

For the study, researchers examined 10 male and 25 female college athletes. All received EEG brain scans and were evaluated for concussion and depression symptoms.

The results showed that those who suffered from both depression and a concussion reported almost twice as many symptoms of depression as those who suffered from only one of the two conditions.

Likewise, those who suffered from both depression and a concussion reported significantly worse and longer-lasting post-concussion symptoms than those who suffered a concussion but not depression.

The EEG brain scans showed that people had less coherent brain wave patterns when they suffered from both a concussion and depression, researchers said.

These EEG measurements show that functional connectivity between brain regions is significantly disrupted in people with a history of sports-related concussion and depression, compared to people with one or neither condition, the researchers said.

People with depression or concussions showed some disruption in neural connectivity, but nothing compared to those with both conditions.

“To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has used EEG to study the co-occurrence of concussion and depression in this way,” Griffith said in a Penn State news release. “This study provided only a partial picture of the extent of the disruption in brain connectivity, but these results are so striking that they should inspire doctors to take this into account when treating patients.”

Sports doctors and athletic trainers may need to adjust their treatment of athletes with concussions and depression, researchers say.

For example, if someone suffering from depression suffers a concussion, the time frame for return to play may need to be longer.

“We regularly see people who have difficulty recovering from a concussion and other people who recover quickly,” said lead researcher Semyon Slobounov, a professor of kinesiology at Penn State. “Historically, the clinical standard has been to approach concussions as a problem with a one-size-fits-all solution.”

“This study has shown that people with pre-existing mental health conditions may need more care when recovering from a concussion so that we can keep our athletes – and the population at large – healthy for life,” Slobounov said.

More information

The Mayo Clinic has more information about symptoms after a concussion.

SOURCE: Penn State, press release, October 18, 2024