University of Oregon Concussion Research Shows Athletes May Need Months, not Days, to Recover

Normally, most doctors give athletes about a week to 10 days to recover from a concussion; however, new research from the University of Oregon’s Department of Human Physiology shows that some brains can be impaired even two months after a head injury.

Graduate student David Howell helped lead the study, which involved about 20 Eugene, Ore.-area high school athletes who had suffered concussions. Each participating concussed athlete was put through visual and cognitive brain tests. The athletes were tested multiple times over a two-month period where researchers analyzed their “attention level” and “task-switching” abilities. Each subject’s results then were compared to a non-concussed subject’s results with similar physical attributes. The results showed that many concussed athletes took milliseconds longer to answer questions up to two months after their initial injury. Without full recovery, this could mean more injury for athletes.

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