The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function
Concussion is known to detrimentally affect brain health. Rugby tackles commonly occur with high collision force between tackler and ball carrier, and low impact head contact is not uncommon. Cognitive deficits following a bout of soccer ball heading has been attributed to the impact and termed s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82151 |
| _version_ | 1848764479268978688 |
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| author | McNabb, Colm Reha, Tahere Georgieva, Julia Jacques, Angela Netto, Kevin Lavender, Andrew |
| author_facet | McNabb, Colm Reha, Tahere Georgieva, Julia Jacques, Angela Netto, Kevin Lavender, Andrew |
| author_sort | McNabb, Colm |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Concussion is known to detrimentally affect brain health. Rugby tackles commonly
occur with high collision force between tackler and ball carrier, and low impact head contact is not
uncommon. Cognitive deficits following a bout of soccer ball heading has been attributed to the
impact and termed sub-concussion. Although soccer ball heading studies provide evidence for
acute effects of sub-concussion, it is unknown whether this phenomenon occurs following rugby
tackles. This study investigates the acute effects of rugby tackles on brain function and balance
in rugby players. Twenty-six volunteers were assigned to either the ball carrier (9), tackler (9) or
control (8) group. Controls performed running without the tackle. Outcome measures included
corticomotor function using transcranial magnetic brain stimulation (TMS) and balance was assessed
by a series of tasks performed on a NeuroCom Balance Master before and immediately after a tackle
training drill. Following the tackling bout, the cortical silent period (cSP) increased for the tacklers
with no change for ball carrier and control groups, and no differences between groups for balance
measures were observed. Lengthening of cSP observed in the tacklers following the bout has been
reported in studies of concussion and may indicate long term detrimental effects. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:20:00Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-82151 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:20:00Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-821512021-01-13T03:27:43Z The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function McNabb, Colm Reha, Tahere Georgieva, Julia Jacques, Angela Netto, Kevin Lavender, Andrew Concussion is known to detrimentally affect brain health. Rugby tackles commonly occur with high collision force between tackler and ball carrier, and low impact head contact is not uncommon. Cognitive deficits following a bout of soccer ball heading has been attributed to the impact and termed sub-concussion. Although soccer ball heading studies provide evidence for acute effects of sub-concussion, it is unknown whether this phenomenon occurs following rugby tackles. This study investigates the acute effects of rugby tackles on brain function and balance in rugby players. Twenty-six volunteers were assigned to either the ball carrier (9), tackler (9) or control (8) group. Controls performed running without the tackle. Outcome measures included corticomotor function using transcranial magnetic brain stimulation (TMS) and balance was assessed by a series of tasks performed on a NeuroCom Balance Master before and immediately after a tackle training drill. Following the tackling bout, the cortical silent period (cSP) increased for the tacklers with no change for ball carrier and control groups, and no differences between groups for balance measures were observed. Lengthening of cSP observed in the tacklers following the bout has been reported in studies of concussion and may indicate long term detrimental effects. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82151 10.3390/brainsci10120960 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MDPI AG fulltext |
| spellingShingle | McNabb, Colm Reha, Tahere Georgieva, Julia Jacques, Angela Netto, Kevin Lavender, Andrew The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function |
| title | The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function |
| title_full | The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function |
| title_fullStr | The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function |
| title_short | The Effect of Sub-Concussive Impacts during a Rugby Tackling Drill on Brain Function |
| title_sort | effect of sub-concussive impacts during a rugby tackling drill on brain function |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82151 |