Principal investigators:
Partners:
- Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam Collaboration on Health and Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
- Institute for Sport and Health, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
- Division of Physiotherapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
Goal: To contribute to better return to sports decisions after sports injuries and to develop strategies to map the interaction of the brain with different types of acute fatigue after sports injuries.
Short summary: In the past, when someone suffered a sports injury, it was mainly the affected region that was looked at, both within scientific research and in clinical practice. Recently, this local focus was shifted to a more holistic vision. This holistic vision is also very much alive in the sports world and this paradigm shift has led to the development of a complex return to sports algorithm. Within this complex vision, current scientific research on the role of the brain after (sports) injuries as well as the influence of different types of fatigue on this is in its infancy. This line of research lends itself to documenting the role of the brain after (sports) injuries and to exploring the interactions with fatigue.
Today, we are developing strategies to assess the interaction of the brain with different types of acute fatigue during functional performance tests. These functional tests are used in clinical practice to support the return to sports decision. However, we do not know how the brain behaves during these tests, nor do we know how fatigue affects performance in these tests. A better understanding of the interactions of the brain with acute fatigue after sports injuries should lead to new and better treatment strategies in clinical practice, as well as a more effective and safer return to sport.
Recent output:
- Criteria-Based Return to Sport Decision-Making Following Lateral Ankle Sprain Injury: a Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis.
- Peripheral and central functions of monoamines: Can we use changes in plasma monoamine concentrations as a valid indicator of changes in the brain?
- Bringing context to balance: development of a reactive balance test within the injury prevention and return to sport domain.