Concussion In Sport Group Education Symposium highlight: A Neurodiversity Toolkit for concussion patients (5/15/25 Newsletter)
This week, our lead article, Concussion In Sport Group Education Symposium highlight: A Neurodiversity Toolkit for concussion patients, is in the Clinical Resource Highlight category.
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In this newsletter: Opportunities, Update: CDC’s TBI Team Eliminated, Self-Care, Mental Health, Clinical Resource Highlight
Writers: Josh Wu, Ella Webster, Malayka Gormally, Conor Gormally
Editors: Conor Gormally & Malayka Gormally
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Opportunities
April 28 - June 15, 2025: Highly Recommended! A free, multi-week, self-paced Online Concussion Course presented in English and French by the Universities of Calgary and Laval. Register by May 31; you must finish the course by June 15.
Friday, May 16, 11 am PST: Free online class, Understanding your Nervous System: Tools For Building Awareness and Resilience, presented by Regee Costanzo and hosted by Brain Northwest.
May 27, 6 pm EST: a free webinar, Concussion Mythology and non-Evidence Based Therapies, presented by Dr. Carmela Tartaglia and hosted by the Canadian Concussion Centre. Register in advance.
Thursday, May 22, 6– 8 pm EST: Co-founders Conor Gormally and Malayka Gormally will present Creating Accessible Patient-Facing Resources at the Public Forum on Concussion Awareness and Care presented by the Canadian Concussion Centre. The program is free and registration in advance is required.
Click here for the program with the list of speakers for the full 2-hour public forum.
Update: CDC’s TBI Team Eliminated
More on the elimination of the CDC’s traumatic brain injury team: the federal budget, a lawsuit, the NFL missing in action
Since our May 1 article on this topic, President Trump has sent his 2026 budget request to Congress, and it includes the elimination of the budget for the CDC’s TBI team. This situation is unprecedented, as the budget is far from being approved, but the five-person team was already eliminated through an April 1st Reduction in Force (RIF). According to an anonymous TBI team member we are in contact with, the TBI team was put on paid administrative leave, with their jobs ending on June 2. The Washington Post reported that, on April 28, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by a “nationwide coalition of labor unions, local governments, and nonprofits,” asserting the RIFs were illegal. On May 9, Judge Susan Illston issued a temporary restraining order for “the Trump administration to halt mass layoffs of federal workers for at least two weeks,” writing that “‘To make large-scale overhauls of federal agencies, any president must enlist the help of his co-equal branch and partner, the Congress.’”
However, even if the lawsuit is successful, there is not much of a route forward if Congress approves the budget cuts, including those for the CDC’s TBI team. Journalists at NBC, MSN, and the Sports Business Journal have called out the NFL for not commenting on the proposed budget’s elimination of the TBI team. The Brain Injury Association of New York State sent staff members to Capitol Hill to advocate for the New York delegation to support the bipartisan letters from Reps. Luttrell and Deluzio to preserve brain injury programs, including the programs run by the TBI team, Heads Up, and the National Concussion Surveillance System. We recommend that our community support the advocacy efforts of the Brain Injury Association of America by signing their advocacy campaigns here and here. Concussion Alliance is meeting with other nonprofits and stakeholders to see what can be done to preserve the Heads Up online concussion resources, particularly the training courses for youth coaches.
Self-Care
One exercise session within 14 days of concussion improves executive function immediately after
A recent clinical study led by Rahimi et al. examined the effects of sub-symptom threshold aerobic exercise on executive function in individuals recovering from sport-related concussions (SRC). After a concussion, executive function (which includes mental processes like working memory, attention, and problem-solving) is frequently compromised. The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether aerobic exercise at levels below thresholds for symptom exacerbation could promote cognitive recovery in the initial phases following an injury.
The findings, published in the Journal of Sport Sciences, revealed that after one exercise session, participants' executive function significantly improved. According to these results, people recovering from SRC may experience immediate cognitive advantages from even one session of supervised aerobic exercise. According to the researchers' hypothesis, this type of exercise could improve cognitive recovery by increasing cerebral blood flow, promoting neuroplasticity, and modifying neuroinflammatory responses.
The study involved 16 University of Western Ontario varsity athletes diagnosed with SRC who were within three to 14 days post-injury and 16 non-concussed controls. Each participant underwent a single 20-minute session of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, carefully calibrated to avoid triggering concussion symptoms. Executive function was assessed before and after the exercise session using standardized neurocognitive tests, including rapid eye movement assessments.
The study had some drawbacks, such as a small sample size and the short-term nature of the intervention. Furthermore, there was no long-term follow-up in the trial to evaluate how long-lasting the cognitive gains were. Future research should explore the long-term effects of sub-symptom threshold aerobic exercise on cognitive recovery post-concussion and determine how to incorporate and optimize these exercise protocols for concussion rehabilitation.
Mental Health
Chronic headache disorders linked to a higher risk of suicide
A recent large-scale study led by Danish researchers discovered an alarming link between headache disorders and increased risk of attempted or completed suicide. Headaches are a common symptom of concussion, both acutely and among those with persisting post-concussion symptoms. Researchers Holly Elser et al. note that posttraumatic headache (headache conditions following a physically traumatic event like a concussion) is one of the types of headaches that has the highest risk of suicide. Their study, published in JAMA Neurology, highlights the serious impact headaches have on mental health, emphasizing the need for more integrated care.
The study included data from over 119,000 individuals diagnosed with a headache disorder and compared them to roughly 600,000 healthy controls. Data was recorded over a 15-year period, finding that the risk of suicide attempt among those with a headache disorder was 0.78%, which was more than double that of the general population at 0.33%. Similarly, the rate of completed suicide was also elevated for the headache disorder group, with 0.21% compared to the 0.15% in the comparison group.
There was particular concern related to the specific types of headaches that had a stronger link. While posttraumatic headaches and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgies were associated with the highest risk of suicide, even the more common forms, such as migraines and tension-type headaches, were linked to an increase as well.
The link is thought to be rooted in the psychological toll of chronic pain and overlapping biological mechanisms such as serotonin dysregulation. It is also common that patients with headache disorders have comorbid psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, and substance use. This could lead to further vulnerability.
Overall, these findings ring a bell, calling for a shift in clinical practice, including incorporating routine mental health screenings as part of headache treatment protocols. For patients and families, recognition of the emotional burden of chronic headaches––and the support and strength to reach out––is crucial.
Clinical Resource Highlight
Concussion In Sport Group Education Symposium highlight: A Neurodiversity Toolkit for concussion patients
On April 30th and May 1st, Concussion Alliance CEO & Co-Founder Conor Gormally attended the first Educational Symposium hosted by the Concussion In Sport Group; one highlight was a presentation on the excellent Neurodiversity Toolkit for concussion providers and patients produced by the Virginia Concussion Initiative (see below). The Concussion in Sport Group is the organization that crafts and publishes the International Consensus Statements on Concussion in Sport––as well as tools like the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT6), used across the world for sideline concussion assessment, and the Sports Concussion Office Assessment Tool (SCOAT6). Conor attended 10 hours of lectures and two poster sessions alongside over 200 researchers and clinicians over the two-day symposium with the goals of bringing new knowledge and resources to our Concussion Alliance audience and advocating for increased implementation of Concussion Alliance’s resources in clinical settings.
We want to share a highlight from the talk with you all! One of the speakers was Dr. Catherine McGill, a pediatric neuropsychologist and Associate Director of the Virginia Concussion Initiative, who spoke about the importance of considering neurodiversity in assessing and treating concussion patients. Dr. McGill spoke about ways clinicians might consider neurodiversity in their clinical practice and how they might adjust diagnostic procedures. Dr. McGill also promoted the Neurodiversity Toolkit, a set of tools to promote better communication and patient-centered support during diagnosis and recovery.
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