Introduction

Concussion in athletics is a growing public health concern with increased attention being focused on treatment and management of this puzzling epidemic. A critical decision confronting health care practitioners is to determine the proper and safest time frame when clearing athletes to resume participation, as premature return-to-play after concussion may put injured athletes at high risk for recurrent and more severe brain injuries. Despite the increasing occurrence and prevalence of concussions in athletics, there is no universally accepted defi nition or gold standard for its assessment. Conventional brain imaging techniques lack the sensitivity to detect the subtle structural changes. Clinical management of sports-induced concussions has not changed much over the past decade. Advances in neuroimaging that include electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy offer the opportunity in developing research leading to a better understanding of the complexities and nuances of concussions. This may ultimately infl uence the clinical management of the injury and provide more accurate guidelines for return to sport participation. In this introductory chapter the authors review the major fi ndings from advanced neuroimaging methods along with current controversy within the fi eld of concussion research.