About
Concussions are clinical conditions with potentially serious consequences for both the affected individual and the healthcare system. In addition, some studies suggest that mild concussion may be related to other diseases of the aging brain, such as Alzheimer's disease, although this is unclear. New rigorous research is needed to illuminate the precise impact of mild concussion on the brain, to uncover what influences this impact, as well as to bridge the knowledge gap between mild concussion and Alzheimer's disease. Our study would attempt to investigate these questions through the use of the UK Biobank database. During the course of 24 months, data obtained from this database would be analyzed to uncover the similarities and differences between the brains of mild concussion survivors, Alzheimer's disease patients and healthy individuals. We hypothesize that there would be: a) brain differences between concussion survivors and healthy individuals, b) brain similarities between mild concussion survivors and Alzheimer's patients, and c) The likelihood of a mild concussion survivor developing Alzheimer's disease would be affected by her/his genetics. The results of this study would aid the understanding of the two conditions and their relationship.