We all have seen it before: the kick to head, the collision with the wall, the clash of heads on the soccer pitch, the elbow up on a hockey check, the baseball chin music that gets too close to the batter’s head, the stiff body with clenched fist and eyes rolled back. I could go on forever. If you were to describe all the scenarios above to a non–sports fan and ask them to give you a diagnosis of what injury the athletes have suffered, doubtless 9 out 10 would say a concussion. And they would be right.
Concussions were once the elephant in the room – no one wanted to address them and if you didn’t have a broken limb you were expected to “ be a man” and play. Players and cartoon characters would joke about seeing stars. Luckily we have come a long way since our caveman brains. Concussions are taken more seriously than ever before; the medical community, amateur and professional athletes are more informed about their short/long term effects.
There are many products and companies out there that offer services that detect a concussion; some offer to help minimize their occurrence and the damages they inflict. One of those companies is the not-so-new kid on the block, Cogstate Ltd which claims to be the leading cognitive science company focused on optimizing the measurement of cognition to guide better decision-making. Cogstate commercializes rapid, reliable, sensitive and simple computerized cognitive tests for clinical trials, academic research, and healthcare and brain injury.
Cogstate has used its vast amounts of data and expertise in brain cognition to create its innovative technology: the Computerized Cognitive Assessment Tool (CCAT). This enables athletes to establish a baseline or “snapshot” of their brain’s speed and accuracy by completing some simple online tasks. By repeating these same tasks after suspected brain trauma, the tool will identify any cognitive changes from the baseline performance. This will help indicate whether the brain has fully recovered from the trauma.
This neutral third party is important because, let’s face it, athletes want to do what athletes do and that’s play. I’ve been there myself. I lied and played and still don’t remember those 2 days. The Cogstate Computerized Cognitive Assessment Tool (CCAT) helps parents, family physicians, coaches and athletic trainers make the right decision on whether the athlete should return to play or not.
What separates this tool from the others is that:
- It’s quick: the baseline test takes 8 to 10 minutes to complete and the results are available immediately.
- The test is very easy to understand and features playing cards. (You read more about it here: https://concussion.cogstate.com/index.cfm?pid=3&pageTitle=Testing
- The test is done online and no download is necessary. Axon stores the athletes’ results on their secure database for 15 years, allowing for sharing of the data when needed.
- The tool is scientifically valid, powered by Cogstate technology and available for amateur athletes as young as 10 to professionals.
- Repeated use of the test by athletes does not allow them to “cheat “the technology.
For information on Cogstate and CCAT please visit https://concussion.cogstate.com
The other company who is leading the way in athletic cognition technology is Axon Sports. To live up to their mission – “to protect and train the athletic brain” – Axon Sports have developed innovative cognitive technologies such as “Elite Training Systems” which are installed at different performance labs, training centers and college/professional team facilities through the United States and the UK. Their cognitive technologies measure the core and sport-specific cognitive skills of an athlete to establish a baseline. Then the athlete is given an individualized training plan designed to build on their cognitive strengths and improve cognitive weaknesses.
The training improves three cognitive areas:
- Fundamental Cognitive Processing
Axon starts with the foundation of an athlete’s cognitive process by improving the basics of the brain like speed, attention, learning, working memory and core thinking processes.
- Athletic cognitive processing
The next set of cognitive training happens to processes that Axon says are critical to athletes. These include emotional control, maintaining focus and recognizing and anticipating patterns on the field.
- Athletic cognitive skill consolidation
Integrated tool sets are used to train athletes’ cognitive ability in pressure scenarios to simulate real-game intensity.
This may all seem taxing on the athletes, but the best part about these cognitive tests/training is how they are delivered. Axon Sports combines high definition touch screens with coordinated lighting and sound. They create the ideal cognitive training environment in which athletes can train their brains. Axon has even created mobile apps to enable athletes to continue their cognitive training wherever they are.
In his best-selling book, The Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell theorizes that it takes 10,000 hours or 10,000 repetitions for anyone to become expert in any endeavor. Now, because of Axon and their innovative technologies, that may be a less daunting prospect. With Axon Sports, it may well be a lot easier to put in thousands of hours of mental reps.To read more on Axon Sports innovative technologies please visit. www.axonsports.com
