Quantitative EEG Analysis in Clinical Practice: Concussion Injury

Abstract

Concussion is a common brain injury. The American Academy of Neurology provides a definition of concussion: “Concussion is a traumatically, or biomechanically, induced alteration of brain function. Emphasis is placed on a pathophysiological process, or functional disruption, as opposed to anatomic, structural, or tissue injury.”. The incidence of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is estimated at 200 per 100 000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates 3.8 million sport and recreational mTBIs occurring in the United States each year. A more recent CDC assessment estimates 2.5 million concussion injuries in high school sports alone. The controlled environment and opportunity for direct surveillance and observation has made the sports arena the scientific “wet lab” for the study of mTBI natural history, short- and long-term consequences and opportunities to intervene. Quantitative EEG methods have been utilized in the assessment and management of mTBI and lends to provide a cost-effective procedure that has the sensitivities needed to identify pathology where routine visual inspection of the EEG has failed.