BALLz Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/77075.php A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is among an athlete's most-dreaded injuries, often requiring surgery and months of rehab, as has been the case with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. While being tackled in football or hurtling into an embankment on an icy ski course can tear this major knee ligament, most athletes actually "do themselves in"--they don't collide with a person or object, they end up injuring themselves when they land off-balance during a jump or run. But why? In a first-ever study of its kind, University of Delaware scientists have shown that differences in brain function may be to blame, predisposing some of us to "noncontact" knee injuries. The research, which involved scientists from UD, Michigan State University, West Chester University and St. Joseph's University, is reported in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. "We had some data from previous research which suggested that these noncontact knee injuries occur when a person gets distracted or is 'caught off guard,'" Charles Buz Swanik, the UD assistant professor of health sciences who led the study, said. These awkward movements have the biomechanical appearance of a knee buckling, but can be reproduced safely in the lab to study how people mentally prepare and react to unanticipated events. "This made me wonder if we could measure whether these individuals had different mental characteristics that made them injury-prone," Swanik said. To identify subjects for their study, the researchers administered neurocognitive tests to nearly 1,500 athletes at 18 universities during the preseason. This testing also provided baseline data for athletes who might sustain a concussion after the season started, Swanik said. Visual memory, verbal memory, processing speed, and reaction time all were assessed. For example, a color-matching test was used to measure reaction time and processing speed. Each athlete was asked to click in a box as quickly as possible only if the word "red" was displayed on the computer screen in a red color, not if the word appeared in the color green or blue. After the season started, a number of the tested athletes ended up sustaining noncontact ACL injuries. These athletes were identified, and 80 of them were matched up to a control group of 80 noninjured athletes according to height, weight, age, gender, sport, position and years of experience at the college level. Male and female athletes in 10 intercollegiate sports were represented, including football, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, volleyball, field hockey, gymnastics, wrestling, fencing and softball. Then the preseason test results from the two groups of athletes were compared. In analyzing the data, the scientists found that the athletes who ended up with noncontact ACL injuries demonstrated significantly slower reaction time and processing speed and performed worse on visual and verbal memory tests when compared to the control group. "These results suggest that slower processing speed and reaction time, as well as lower visual and verbal memory performance may predispose certain individuals to errors in coordination during physical activity that can lead to injury," Swanik said. Click on link for full article... If these tests are accurate it may indicate that this could happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koolblue13 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Thats interesting. I know when Portis talks about getting hurt last year, he says it was because he didn't have his mind right. When I broke my ankle and leg, sledding (yes, sledding), I wasn't focused on what I was doing and thats what I always go back to when I dwell on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLEED-B&G Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Mcnabb is the exception not the rule...I doubt having one knee injury would mean he is injury prone and if he were pre-disposed to "mental injuries" it would have been evident by now. I think his play on the field speaks directly in contrast to what this article is suggesting; his reaction time and mental focus appears to be better than most in regard to his on field performance. However I do agree with much of what the article infers regarding to injury-prone athletes being more susceptible because of their mental state. You tend to get hurt when you play trying not to get hurt which I believe this article proves. I partially tore an ACL once and it was directly caused by landing wrong on my knee because I was distracted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 well he does have a big odd shaped noggin :whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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