HQ BaselineThe Headquarters Blog
Essays, research reactions, and safety commentary.
Written by the Headquarters team for parents, coaches, and clinicians who want the full picture — not the marketing version.
- For parents6 min
Should I get my child a baseline concussion test? What the science actually says
The honest answer is more nuanced than most clinics will tell you. What the 2024 CARE Consortium data shows — and why your child probably isn't "average."
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- Safety6 min
Second Impact Syndrome: the brain emergency every sports parent must understand
The nightmare scenario that makes baseline testing more than a nice-to-have. Zackery Lystedt, Rowan Stringer, and why return-to-play protocols exist.
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- Quality5 min
Your child's baseline test might be invalid — and here's why that matters
An uncomfortable truth most baseline providers won't tell you: a noisy gym full of 30 distracted kids is not a valid testing environment.
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- Pricing & access5 min
At-home vs. in-clinic baseline testing: a $15 vs. $75 decision that matters
The price difference between at-home and in-clinic baseline tests reflects real trade-offs. What $15 buys, what $75 buys, and when each makes sense.
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- ADHD & learning6 min
My kid has ADHD — why their baseline concussion test needs special attention
Athletes with ADHD consistently score lower at baseline. That's not impairment — it's why population normative data doesn't work for them.
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- Non-contact sports5 min
Concussions in 'safe' sports: why tennis, swim, cheer, and track parents need baseline tests too
Cheerleading causes more than half of all catastrophic injuries in female high school and college athletes. Every sport produces concussions.
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- How it works7 min
What a baseline concussion test actually looks like: a minute-by-minute walkthrough
A comprehensive baseline takes 30–45 minutes and covers four domains: symptoms, cognition, balance, and VOMS. Here's exactly what happens in each one.
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- Club & travel sports5 min
The club sports concussion gap: what happens when your travel team has no athletic trainer
Most state concussion laws only apply to school-sponsored athletics. Millions of kids play outside that framework — with no athletic trainer and often no protocol.
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- Retirement decisions5 min
When should your child stop playing contact sports? The concussion threshold no one wants to talk about
The old 'three strikes' rule has been abandoned. What actually matters is the pattern — recovery time, trigger force, symptom severity.
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- School & academics6 min
Return to learn before return to play: the school concussion battle plan every parent needs
Returning to the classroom is typically harder than returning to the field — yet only 8 states address return-to-learn in their concussion laws.
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- Integrity5 min
Sandbagging: the dirty secret undermining every concussion baseline program
Deliberately underperforming on a baseline is common. Here's what the research shows — and why multi-domain testing defeats it.
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- Pro sports6 min
NFL, NHL, UFC: how pro sports leagues handle baseline testing — and what it means for your athlete
Every major professional league uses multi-domain baseline testing. Youth programs usually rely on a single cognitive test — if they baseline at all.
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- Recovery science5 min
Your symptoms are gone but your brain isn't healed: the reaction time gap that lasts 59 days
Most concussion patients feel 'back to normal' within 7–14 days. But reaction time deficits can persist 21 to 59 days — long after symptoms resolve.
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- Sex differences5 min
The concussion gender gap: why female athletes score differently at baseline and recover differently
Concussion science has a gender problem. Girls' soccer leads high school female concussions — and the research was mostly built on male athletes.
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- Soccer-specific5 min
Heading the ball: soccer's concussion controversy and why headers deserve their own baseline protocol
Soccer is the only major sport where athletes deliberately use their head to contact the ball. The research is evolving fast — and it changes what a soccer baseline should look like.
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- Tool comparison7 min
ImPACT vs. SCAT6 vs. King-Devick vs. VOMS: every baseline concussion test compared
A clear, independent comparison of every major tool — what each measures, how long it takes, what it costs, and what it misses.
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- Clinical principles5 min
Why no single concussion test is enough: the case for multimodal baseline batteries
No single concussion test has sufficient sensitivity to reliably detect all concussions alone. Here's why multimodal batteries work.
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- Evidence review6 min
The great baseline debate: does pre-season concussion testing actually help?
Scientific opinion is genuinely divided. Here's the case against, the case for, and the third argument that transcends the diagnostic debate entirely.
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- SCAT updates4 min
SCAT5 vs. SCAT6: what changed, what didn't, and why it matters for your baseline
Timed Months in Reverse, a mandatory 10-word list, and a new dual-task tandem gait test. If your baseline was SCAT5, here's what you need to know.
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- Vestibular-ocular5 min
VOMS: the 10-minute eye test that predicts concussion recovery better than anything else
VOMS may be the single most valuable component of a concussion baseline — and it's the one most programs skip. Here's what it measures and why it matters.
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- Symptom science5 min
40% of healthy athletes report concussion symptoms at baseline — here's why that changes everything
Up to 40% of healthy athletes endorse at least one 'concussion-like' symptom at baseline. Without a baseline, clinicians can't separate normal from new.
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- Advanced protocols5 min
Post-exertion testing: the protocol that tests your brain after your body is tired
Athletes don't compete at rest. A baseline that only tests rest-state cognition misses deficits that only show up under physiological stress.
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- Military & defense5 min
The Pentagon's brain health revolution: what every service member should know about the 2024 baseline mandate
In August 2024, the DOD issued one of the most sweeping brain health policies in history: mandatory cognitive baseline testing for every new military recruit.
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- Military & defense5 min
It's not just bombs: how training range blasts are causing invisible brain injuries in soldiers
Thousands of service members may be sustaining cumulative brain damage from routine training that was never considered dangerous.
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- Military & defense5 min
MACE 2 vs. ANAM vs. DANA: a service member's guide to military concussion tests
The military uses three primary tools for concussion assessment — each for a different point in the care continuum. Here's what each one does.
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- Military & defense5 min
From active duty to the VA: why your military baseline data should follow you home
Interoperability between DOD and VA health records remains a persistent challenge. Service members often lose access to their ANAM data at separation — precisely when they need it most.
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- Workplace safety5 min
Why construction workers deserve the same brain protection as NFL players
24% of all U.S. TBIs are work-related, per the CDC. Yet no OSHA standard, no state law, and no federal regulation requires workplace concussion baseline testing.
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- Workplace safety5 min
Baseline testing as PPE for the brain: a safety director's guide to cognitive assessments at onboarding
You already require hard hats, fall protection, and hearing conservation. A cognitive baseline at onboarding is PPE for the most important organ of all.
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- Workers' comp5 min
The $136,000 workers' comp question: how baseline data changes everything after a workplace head injury
Average workplace TBI settlements reach ~$136,000, with complex cases exceeding $500,000. The dispute is almost always about pre-existing conditions — and baseline data settles it.
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- First responders5 min
Badge, gun, and baseline: the case for concussion testing every police officer
57% of police officers report at least one career TBI, per research in Occupational Medicine — far above official incident reports. Yet police baseline testing is almost nonexistent.
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- First responders5 min
Firefighters get cancer screening but not brain screening: the NFPA 1580 gap
NFPA 1580 requires baseline medical, cancer, cardiac, and behavioral health assessments for firefighters. It does not require neurocognitive baseline testing.
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- Workplace safety5 min
Oil rigs, mine shafts, and missed concussions: the industries where brain injuries disappear
Mining, oil and gas, and heavy manufacturing are among the highest-risk industries for head injury — and among the lowest for concussion awareness and baselines.
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- Policy & law5 min
Concussion laws in all 50 states: what's required, what's recommended, and what's missing
Every state has a youth concussion law. But only ~4 states include any baseline testing requirement, and most exclude club and travel sports entirely.
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- Policy & law4 min
Your coach can't clear a concussion: who actually has legal authority in return-to-play decisions
Every state requires written clearance from a licensed healthcare provider. No state allows coaches, parents, or the athlete themselves — yet it happens routinely.
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- Policy & law4 min
When state laws protect athletes but abandon workers: the policy double standard on brain injuries
All 50 states require concussion protocols for 14-year-old athletes. Zero states — and zero federal agencies — require the same for civilian workers.
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- Policy & law5 min
Liability, lawsuits, and baseline tests: what schools, leagues, and employers need to know
Baseline testing serves dual purposes — clinical tool and risk management instrument. Here's how courts view proactive concussion programs.
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- Technology6 min
From blood draws to VR headsets: 7 technologies reshaping concussion detection
VR, eye tracking, blood biomarkers, balance apps, machine learning, qEEG, and saliva biomarkers — what each does, where the evidence stands, and what's available today.
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- Technology5 min
The 15-minute blood test for brain injuries: what Abbott's FDA-cleared concussion test actually tells you
Abbott's i-STAT TBI Plasma test (FDA-cleared 2024) measures GFAP and UCH-L1 from a fingerstick in 15 minutes. It helps rule out the need for CT — it does not replace baseline testing.
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- Technology5 min
Eye tracking for concussions: when marketing claims outpace the science
Company-reported sensitivity of 82% vs. independent testing at 48% — a recurring gap in concussion technology. Here's how to evaluate claims.
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- Technology5 min
Your phone as a brain health tool: how mobile apps are making baseline testing accessible everywhere
Sway Medical, HitCheck, and ImPACT Baseline are putting clinical-grade concussion assessment in your pocket. Here's what mobile tools do well — and where they don't.
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- Technology5 min
Can AI diagnose a concussion? What machine learning is actually doing in brain injury assessment
The headlines are exciting. The reality is more nuanced — but genuinely promising. Here's what AI can and can't do today.
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- Telehealth5 min
Telehealth concussion care: can you do a baseline test over video call?
What works well remotely, what doesn't, and who benefits most — including rural communities, military families, and athletes in recovery follow-up.
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- Neurodiversity5 min
When the baseline is already different: concussion testing for athletes with autism
1 in 36 children has ASD, and 91% of adolescents with ASD play sports. Yet standard baseline tools were not designed, normed, or validated for this population.
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- Older adults5 min
Your grandparent fell and hit their head: why the people most likely to die from concussions have no baseline
Older adults are the fastest-growing population for TBI-related ED visits. Mortality for moderate-to-severe TBI reaches ~50% at six months. Yet baselines target young athletes.
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- Equity & access4 min
Concussion tests in 22 languages — but are they valid? The cross-cultural testing gap
Translation and linguistic validation aren't the same thing. What that means for the 22% of U.S. residents who speak a language other than English at home.
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- Prior concussions4 min
Three concussions in: how prior brain injuries change your baseline and what to do about it
Athletes with previous concussions present differently at baseline. A post-concussion baseline is still valuable — arguably even more valuable. Re-baseline after every injury.
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- Mental health5 min
Depression, anxiety, and brain fog: when mental health and concussion symptoms overlap
Depression, anxiety, and concussion share remarkably similar symptoms: concentration, memory, fatigue, irritability, sleep. Baseline testing helps untangle them.
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- Subconcussive5 min
Subconcussive hits: the brain damage that happens without a concussion diagnosis
Youth tackle football players average ~378 head impacts per season, most below the concussion threshold. The question driving CTE research: are they truly harmless?
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- Culture5 min
The hidden value of baseline testing isn't diagnostic — it's cultural
A 2024 qualitative study of community rugby found that the greatest value of baseline testing may have nothing to do with diagnostics. It may be about culture.
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- Recovery science7 min
The complete science of concussion recovery: what baseline testing reveals about how brains heal
A concussion is not structural damage — it's a metabolic disruption. Understanding the neurometabolic cascade explains why CT scans are normal and why baselines matter.
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