Study links genetic marker to post-concussion neurocognitive function in contact sports Apr. 24, 2013 - A new study presented last week is coming one step closer to finding out whether or not an athlete's genetic makeup determines the severity of post-concussive brain function. Tom Terrell, MD, M.Phil., presented his concussion research entitled "Association between Genetic Polymorphisms and the Difference between Baseline and Post-Concussion Headminder/ImPACT Neuropsychological Test Scores in Reaction Time and Errors in College Athletes" on April 20, 2013, at the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego, Cal. This prospective cohort study is the first to link 2 particular genetic markers Tau gene exon 6 Hist47Tyr and APOE Promoter G-219T) to post-concussion neurocognitive function ("reaction time") and outcome in a group of college football and men's/ women's soccer athletes. Dr. Terrell believes this is one precursor to understanding the link between genetic factors and neurocognitive outcome for concussion in contact sport athletes. The prospective cohort study included 3,218 college athletes with the study group including 131 who completed a concussion/medical history questionnaire, genetic sampling, and baseline neuropsychological testing (Headminder and ImPACT). Funded by the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Foundation and the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), Dr. Terrell's large prospective cohort study was developed by a team of sports medicine researchers including Robin Bostick, MD, Jeff Barth, PhD, Robert Cantu, MD, and David Erlanger, PhD. Dr. Terrell graduated from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and earned a Master of Philosophy (Biological Anthropology) from the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Dr. Terrell is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine in the Department of Family Medicine in Knoxville, Tenn. About the AMSSM Annual Meeting: The conference features lectures and research addressing the most challenging topics in sports medicine today including prevention of sudden cardiac death, concussion, biologic therapies and other controversies facing the field of sports medicine. More than 1,500 sports medicine physicians from across the United States and 10 countries around the world attended the meeting.