New dataset on concussion/mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in children now on Brain-CODE
7 avril 2026
The Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) has released a new controlled dataset from the Advancing Concussion Assessment in Pediatrics (A-CAP) program, offering longitudinal insights into mild traumatic brain injury and recovery in children. Produced in partnership with TRANSCENDENT — an OBI Integrated Discovery Program — the dataset is now available on Brain-CODE, OBI’s neuroinformatics platform.
Concussion is one of the most common forms of brain injury in children, yet predicting recovery outcomes and identifying the most effective assessment approaches remains a significant clinical challenge. Mild traumatic brain injury can have lasting effects on neurodevelopment, cognition, and psychosocial wellbeing, particularly when sustained during critical periods of growth. A-CAP was designed to address this gap by building a comprehensive, longitudinal picture of how children recover from mTBI compared to those with orthopedic injuries.
Study at a glance
- 633 children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and 334 with mild orthopedic injury (OI)
- Ages 8–16 | Recruitment: September 2016 – December 2018
- In-person follow-up at 7 days, 3 months, and 6 months post-injury
- Remote symptom and pain ratings collected weekly to 3 months, biweekly to 6 months
Dataset includes
- Multi-modal MRI and genomics
- Neurobiological and psychosocial markers
- Systematically assessed potential confounders
- Outcomes: post-concussive symptoms, functional disability, quality of life
Recruitment sites
- Alberta Children’s Hospital (Calgary)
- Stollery Children’s Hospital (Edmonton)
- BC Children’s Hospital (Vancouver)
- Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (Ottawa)
- Ste-Justine Hospital (Montréal)
Led by Dr. Keith Owen Yeates, Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Calgary, the research team aimed to identify reliable biomarkers and assessment tools that can help clinicians better predict recovery trajectories in children following concussion. By capturing data across biological, psychological, and social domains over time, the dataset allows researchers to examine the full complexity of pediatric mTBI and to explore how individual differences in genetics and circumstance shape outcomes.
As part of OBI’s commitment to open science, these data are now available on Brain-CODE. By providing the global research community with access to standardized, high-quality clinical data, OBI and its partners are enabling researchers to collaborate across institutions and advance the development of better diagnostic and prognostic tools for pediatric concussion — bringing us closer to more personalized, evidence-based care for children and families.