Oct 16, 2024
Study suggests depression and concussions can amplify symptoms of each

A study led by researchers at the Penn State Department of Kinesiology demonstrated that the co-occurrence of depression and concussion was associated with significantly worse symptoms for both conditions. Additionally, the researchers found that electrical signals in the brain were more disrupted among people with both concussion and depression than among people with only one of these conditions.

A recent study from Penn State University and published by Medical Xpress detailed the findings. Below is an excerpt from the Penn State University study.

depressionOwen Griffith, doctoral candidate in kinesiology, and his doctoral adviser, Semyon “Sam” Slobounov, professor of kinesiology, led a team of researchers who used objective measures of brain connectivity and self-reported symptoms to understand how concussion and depression differentially affected people with concussion but no history of depression, people with depression but who did not have a concussion and people with both.

Results of the study were published in Brain Research.

“We understand from  that many of the symptoms commonly associated with depression in isolation also appear after concussion,” Griffith said.

“We also know that people who have depression recover more slowly from a concussion. So, we wanted to measure—both subjectively and objectively—whether these two neurological conditions also have a compounding effect on each other, and our study demonstrated that they do.”

The researchers recruited 10 male and 25 female, college-aged participants. Each participant was placed into one of four groups, depending on their diagnostic history of depression and concussion respectively.

The groups included a healthy control group with no depression or concussion history, those who had recently been diagnosed with a sport-related concussion but had no history of depression, those who had a history of depression but no concussion, and those with both a history of depression and a recent diagnosis of sports-related concussion.

All participants completed surveys measuring depression and concussion symptoms. Participants who had both depression and concussion reported nearly twice as many depression symptoms as participants who had depression or concussion alone. Additionally, participants who had both depression and concussion reported significantly worse and more prolonged post-concussion symptoms than participants who had a concussion without any history of depression.

In addition to the surveys, the researchers measured participants’ brain connectivity using electroencephalography (EEG). To collect EEG data, sensors are placed on the head of the participant and measure electrical activity in the brain. The researchers said EEG has been used to study either concussion or depression alone in previous studies.

» ALSO SEE: Study suggests physical fitness from childhood to adolescence associated with better mental health

The researchers measured participants’ alpha brain waves, which are generated when the mind is awake but not actively engaged in a task. Alpha waves are colloquially known as the “meditation frequency” because they are most prolific when people are in a wakeful or mindful, but low-activity state.

The researchers said that alpha wave activity represents a good baseline measure of brain connectivity that is not related to any specific task. Measures of alpha wave activity are often more reproducible than those of other brain frequencies because alpha waves are more stable and consistent than higher frequency waves that occur during more active and dynamic brain states.

To read the full story from Penn State University published on Medical Xpress, click here. 




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