Calvin Zhuhan Qiao

Every year, around 42 million people suffer from concussions worldwide. Symptoms of concussions range from dizziness, and depression, to changes in sleep patterns. These concussion statistics are just the tip of the iceberg, and the number of subconcussive head impacts sustained in sports is much higher. Current head impact injury mechanism hypotheses typically rely on either head linear and rotational kinematics or subsequent brain deformation to assess brain injury risk and explain mechanically induced brain dysfunction. However, this framework is not yet able to effectively associate mechanical inputs with specific symptoms, such as vestibular deficits, especially in rarely examined subconcussive situations. Vestibular sensors are located in the peripheral region of our head and, thus, can be easily influenced by head impacts. To fill this gap, we aim at investigating the underlying mechanisms that cause vestibular changes in a subconcussive context. By leveraging state-of-the-art research platforms such as electrical vestibular stimulation and rotary chairs, I will track and analyze the perceptual changes of head rotations and adaptation changes of constant angular velocity using both real and virtual motion stimuli before and after soccer headers. The outcomes of this study can improve our understandings of the source of potential disruptions in the vestibular pathway after subconcussive head impacts and pave the way for deeper investigations into the nature of neurological changes from head impacts.