Everyone who has played a sport this year had to take the ImPACT Concussion Test. ImPACT stands for Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing. This is a baseline test that analyzes one’s memory skills, response speed, and the speed of processing a series of images in the brain

The results of the first test serve as baseline data, which is used to compare future data with. When an athlete gets a concussion, he or she takes the test again. These results show if athletes have experienced significant brain damage.

This may seem like a good diagnostic test, but a simple score from something like a memory test shouldn’t be the deciding factor on a concussion. I do recognize that this test could show levels of brain damage that a player might have gotten, but other than that the ImPACT test doesn’t have much depth.

If an athlete gets a concussion, they must also go to a doctor and get more reliable tests done. These test results will be able to decide whether or not the player has a concussion, not a memory test done by a computer.

When an athlete gets a concussion and they take the ImPACT test, what will the scores tell them? If they have a lower score does that mean they have a concussion? Not necessarily.

There are so many variables that could change and make this test faulty. The athlete might not care about the test, and therefore they might not actually try to remember the shapes, words, and colors they see on the screen. Their brain might also just be tired from a loss of sleep. All of these factors make the scores on the ImPACT test less impactful when deciding if an athlete has a severe concussion.

Senior Abby Rivard has had many concussions in the last couple years, and has learned to “scam” the test.  “I’ve taken the impact test so many times over the years that I know all the shapes and each time I’ve taken it I’ve either gotten better at it or the same score, except when I had a concussion.”  Rivard also mentioned that she doesn’t enjoy taking the test.

While the ImPACT test may be a strategic tool when measuring brain damage, it doesn’t prove successful in diagnosing concussions, preventing them, or treating them.