Editorial: Brain function alterations in populations with musculoskeletal disorders: now let's talk about it

Abstract

KEYWORDS anterior cruciate ligament injury, chronic ankle instability, musculoskeletal injury, neurocognition, neuroplasticity, postural control, return to sport Editorial on the Research Topic Brain function alterations in populations with musculoskeletal disorders: now let's talk about it Musculoskeletal injuries have traditionally been managed as local tissue problems (e.g., a ruptured ligament, a painful tendon). Yet peripheral healing alone does not always explain clinical recovery. Many patients and athletes regain range of motion, strength, and basic functional capacity, but continue to report instability, fail to return to their previous level of activity or sport, or sustain recurrent injury (1). These observations have encouraged a broader view of musculoskeletal disorders, in which altered afferent input, sensorimotor integration, allocation of cognitive resources, and brain neuroplasticity may contribute to persistent dysfunction (2-4). This Research Topic, "Brain Function Alterations in Populations with Musculoskeletal Disorders: Now let's talk about it", was developed to highlight the central nervous system dimension of musculoskeletal injury and rehabilitation. The four contributing articles span knee and ankle ligamentous injury, sensory-cognitive assessment, return-to-sport (RTS) decision-making, and cerebellar-targeted neuromodulation. Although diverse in methodology and scope, they converge on a common question: to what extent do brain-related adaptations influence recovery after musculoskeletal injury, and how should these adaptations be considered in rehabilitation and RTS practice? One challenge in this domain is establishing whether central alterations persist throughout recovery. Addressing this question, Jiménez-Martínez et al. broadened the discussion of recovery by examining cognitive performance in open-skill sport athletes with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury from the preoperative period through the postoperative rehabilitation and eventual RTS. Using the Flanker (inhibitory control) and Multiple Object Tracking (attention) tasks, the authors observed that cognitive performance improved after ACL reconstruction, but persistent cognitive deficits remained compared to athletes without ACL injury at the completion of rehabilitation. TYPE Editorial PUBLISHED