MANSFIELD, N.J. (AP) – High school football player Bobby Bauma knows concussions should be taken seriously. Two years ago, a concussion sidelined him for five weeks.

“I had a headache most of the time,” Bauma, a 17-year-old senior at Northern Burlington County Regional High School, said after a recent football practice. “Sunlight would bother my eyes.”

The decision to keep Bauma off the field was made after using ImPACT, a computerized test that helps coaches and trainers decide when it’s safe to allow athletes to return following a concussion.

An increasing number of New Jersey schools are giving the 25-minute test to athletes before their season begins, with 30 schools starting this fall. Athletes who had brain injuries retake the test to determine if it’s safe for them to resume play.

“It’s like a physical for the brain,” said Erin Cearfoss, athletic trainer at Northern Burlington, one of the schools that received a grant for ImPACT from the Brain Injury Association of New Jersey. Northern Burlington was one of five state schools already using the test that applied for a grant last spring.

Tim Coyne, athletic director at Hopewell Valley Central High School, will begin using the test this year. Previously, Coyne said he relied on a paper test to assess whether an injured athlete could return to action.

“It (the computerized test) gives us a more objective tool to measure an athlete’s readiness to return to play,” Coyne said. “They (computers) can grade things much more efficiently then I can.”

Concussions, the most common kind of traumatic brain injuries, occur when the brain receives trauma from an impact or sudden movement. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 300,000 people sustain sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries in the U.S. every year.

While separate concussions can lead to physical, cognitive and behavioral issues, it is especially dangerous when an athlete who returns from a concussion before the brain healed suffers another injury, according to Dr. Gregory J. O’Shanick, medical director for the Brain Injury Association of America.

Concussions also can have adverse effects beyond the field of play, experts say.

“They (athletes) can experience differences with attention and concentration, speed of processing information and short-term memory – all the necessary tools and building blocks for learning,” said Dr. Jill Brooks, a neuropyschologist at Head to Head Consultants in Far Hills who helped the association establish the grant program.

Last March, the Brain Injury Association began offering matching grants to help schools purchase the test as part of its campaign to raise awareness about sports concussions.

“First, people don’t know that a concussion is a brain injury,” said Barbara Geiger-Parker, executive director of the association. “Second, many people assume that one has to lose consciousness to have a concussion.”

Grants to help pay for the test, which were sold at a discounted price of $1,300, were available for up to 100 schools, but only 35 signed up. Officials hope more schools will show an interest as awareness spreads.

ImPACT stands for Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing. Athletes who take the test answer questions about symptoms and medical history, complete word and memory exercises and identify where objects light up on a computer screen.

“The whole idea behind ImPACT is that athletes are absolutely back to normal before they go back into play,” said Dr. Mark Lovell, a neuropyschologist who developed the test in 1995.

Although some athletes have attempted to beat the system by intentionally getting a low score as their baseline, Lovell, now the director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Concussion Program, said the test is designed to flag cheaters.

The ImPACT program is now used by about 1,500 schools and colleges and some professional associations, according to Lovell.

New Jersey is the first affiliate of The Brain Injury Association of America to offer financial assistance for schools that want to purchase baseline concussion testing, according to Susan Connors, the association’s president and CEO.

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