Preceptor Award: AUTO-TBI - Autonomic Function After Concussion

Project Description Narrative:

Concussion (mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI) is common and causes an array of physical symptoms, cognitive impairments, and emotional changes that impair life function and quality. Although athletes with concussion often experience rapid recovery, the broader community concussion population typically experiences more severe and persistent symptoms. Currently there are no effective treatments to facilitate recovery, a problem stemming in part from a limited understanding of the neurophysiology of concussion.

Through this award, a student research experience will expand the scope of the AHW-funded Neurophysiological Effects of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury project by investigating how two of the body’s stress systems—the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—are affected by concussion and associated with symptom recovery.

Student: Sophia Musacchio, M1, Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine