Abstract

Concussions have recently been heavily researched in the field of neuroscience, as millions of people around the world suffer a concussion each year from sports, recreational activities, or accidents such as car crashes and falls. This study examined if young adults who have a history of suffering multiple concussions exhibit executive dysfunction. To investigate this, participants, ranging from zero to four diagnosed concussions in their lives, performed the Stroop Color Word and Auditory Oddball Tasks, an EEG measured electrical activity in the brain. In the Stroop task, significant differences were found between the differing congruency conditions in both accuracy and reaction times, exhibiting the Stroop effect. No significant interactions were observed between the number of concussions and ERP data, but it was suggested that there was a positive correlation between concussions and the P300 congruent amplitude. No significant interactions were found between concussions or the MMN ERP while examining the Auditory Oddball task. These results suggest that a history of concussions may influence some aspects of executive functionality, however, further studies will need to be conducted to investigate how concussions impact young adults.

Advisor

Herzmann, Grit

Department

Neuroscience

Disciplines

Biological Psychology | Cognitive Neuroscience | Cognitive Psychology

Publication Date

2024

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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