The impact of concussion on processing speed and attention in athletes: a systematic review

Moraes, Raquel Melo dos Santos, Barcelos, Gabrielle Candido de Oliveira, Toribio, Pedro Paulo Coutinho, Landeira-Fernandez, Jesus and Filgueiras, Alberto ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6668-0606 (2025) The impact of concussion on processing speed and attention in athletes: a systematic review. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto), 35. e3527. doi:10.1590/1982-4327e3527

Preview

Text (Published version) 15709 Filgueiras (2025) The impact of concussion on processing speed.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (351kB) | Preview

Abstract

The present study investigated if concussions would be associated with decreases in cognitive performance, especially attention and processing speed. A systematic review of the literature was conducted in the PubMed, PsycInfo and ScienceDirect databases. The aim of this review is to ascertain the quality of the evidence in parallel with seeking a convergent answer to the guiding research question. The results showed that attention and processing speed are compromised at least one week after the concussion occurs. However, two problems were indicated by the judges: the heterogeneity of the instruments used in the studies, and the bias of the results, given that most of them did not use blind data collection or blind compilation of the results of the evaluations. Although solid evidence was found, further meta-analyses will be needed to increase homogeneity and validity, and ensure the size of the effect of concussion on the cognitive functions of athletes.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Brain concussion; Attention; Processing speed; Review; Sports
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education, Health and Sciences
Depositing User:	Rhiannon Goodland
Date Deposited:	24 Dec 2025 14:01
Last Modified:	24 Dec 2025 14:15
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/15709

University Staff: Request a correction | Repository Editors: Update this record