Concussion is the most common form of brain injury in the world, with an estimated 42 million cases occurring annually. Despite its prevalence, the clinical systems built to address it remain significantly under-resourced, and the dominant measure of recovery, symptom resolution, fails to capture what is actually happening inside the brain. Functional neurology training, mild traumatic brain injury assessment, concussion biomarkers, autonomic nervous system testing, and pupillary light reflex analysis represent an emerging and increasingly essential capability set for licensed clinicians who work with this population.

This course, presented by Dr. Frederick Carrick at the International Symposium of Clinical Neuroscience, reframes the concussion conversation entirely. Rather than treating the injury as a transient event, the curriculum draws on neuroimaging research, longitudinal structural data, and autonomic physiology to show that concussion produces measurable, lasting changes in white matter microstructure, ventricular volume, regional cerebral blood flow, and prefrontal circuit integrity, changes that persist for two decades or more independent of reported symptoms. Clinicians who complete this course gain a working understanding of how the prefrontal cortex modulates brainstem reflexes, specifically the pupillary light reflex, and how disruption of that modulation manifests as quantifiable autonomic dysregulation. The connection between the locus coeruleus, Edinger-Westphal nucleus, and frontal eye field activity is presented not as abstract neuroanatomy but as a clinically actionable circuit that explains what you are already observing in practice.

This course is designed for chiropractors, chiropractic neurologists, physical therapists, neurologists, sports medicine clinicians, and other licensed healthcare providers who evaluate and manage concussion or brain injury at any level of acuity. It is equally relevant to clinicians working with pediatric athletes, aging populations, and patients with neurodegenerative risk profiles, as the pupillary and autonomic frameworks presented apply across the lifespan.

Dr. Frederick Carrick is a chiropractic neurologist and one of the most published clinical researchers in functional neurology. His work spans vestibular rehabilitation, brain injury recovery, autonomic assessment, and neuro-ophthalmology, with an active publication record available through PubMed under Carrick FR. He holds faculty affiliations with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine and collaborating institutions including Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. As founder of the Carrick Institute, he brings decades of translational research directly into clinically applicable frameworks that licensed providers can implement immediately.