Computerised cognitive assessment of athletes with sports related head injury

Professional and amateur participants in many sports are at risk of brain i njury caused by impact with other players or objects. In many cases, mild c ognitive deficits may persist after the common neurological signs of brain injury have passed. In recent years, the athlete's cognitive status after c oncussion has been measured with conventional "paper and pencil" neuropsych ological tests. However, such tests are not ideal for sporting settings, as they are designed for the detection of gross cognitive impairments at a si ngle assessment, not for the identification of mild cognitive deficits on r epeated assessment. A number of computerised cognitive assessment tests and test batteries have been developed over the past two decades. These batter ies offer major scientific and practical advantages over conventional neuro psychological tests which make them ideal for the assessment of cognitive f unction in sports-people. This review first describes the problems associat ed with cognitive assessment of people with sports related cognitive defici ts, and then critically examines the utility of conventional neuropsycholog ical and computerised cognitive tests in sporting settings.