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Abstract
There is a 2-4x increased risk for musculoskeletal injury post-concussion without any known cause or rehabilitation strategy. A possible cause is the impaired ability to dual-task post-concussion. Additionally, creating means to improve dual tasking during rehabilitation such as non-invasive brain stimulation and a hierarchy of cognitive difficulty would be beneficial. Therefore, the purpose of this was to determine long-term biomechanics during turning gait, jump landing, and cutting, and see if dual-tasking and brain stimulation alters these outcomes. Turning gait required participants to perform a figure of 8 walking tasks under single- and dual-task (serial 7s) conditions. Jump landing and cutting required participants to perform single- and dual-task conditions (serial 3s, serial 7s). Jump landing occurred pre- and post-brain stimulation. Individuals with a concussion history displayed shorter step length (p=0.014) during turning gait regardless of cognitive condition. All participants displayed significantly faster reaction time during single-task jump landing and cutting compared to dual-task (p<0.001 for all), but limited differences between serial 3s and 7s. Brain stimulation to alter landing biomechanics for either group (p-range=0.054-0.999). The control group displayed faster functional reaction time post-brain stimulation regardless of the stimulation site (p=0.018). In conclusion, there does not appear to be long-term jump landing or cutting biomechanics impairments. Individuals with a concussion history may have a more conservative gait strategy than controls. A single session of brain stimulation does not alter landing biomechanics and may require multiple sessions to see improvements.