Sex-Related Differences in Emotion Recognition in Multi-concussed Athletes.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Sports Medicine

Background:

• Concussion, a brain injury, has known long-term effects on cognition and motor skills.
• Emerging research suggests concussions can lead to emotional difficulties, especially in females and athletes with multiple injuries.
• The impact of multiple concussions on emotion recognition remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate sex-based differences in emotion recognition among asymptomatic male and female athletes with a history of multiple concussions.
• To determine if multiple concussions affect the ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion differently between sexes.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 28 control athletes and 22 multi-concussed athletes (over a year post-injury).
• Assessment included symptom scales, depression/anxiety inventories, neuropsychological tests, and a morphed emotion recognition task.
• Participants identified basic emotions from morphed facial expressions.

Main Results:

• Significant interactions between sex and concussion group were found for accuracy and intensity thresholds in recognizing negative emotions.
• Male multi-concussed athletes demonstrated impaired recognition of negative emotions compared to male controls.
• Female multi-concussed athletes performed comparably to their same-sex controls.

Conclusions:

• Sex significantly influences how multiple concussions affect the recognition of emotional facial expressions.
• Male athletes with multiple concussions exhibit specific deficits in processing negative emotions.
• These findings underscore the importance of considering sex in concussion research and management.