Baseline testing measures how your brain performs when it is healthy, so that if you are ever concussed a specialist can compare your post-injury results to your own normal instead of to a population average. It is a diagnostic aid — not a diagnosis, and not a prevention.
What baseline testing is
Baseline concussionA mild traumatic brain injury from a blow or jolt to the head. Symptoms can include headache, dizziness, and trouble concentrating; most people recover with proper rest and follow-up care. testing measures brain function in a normal, healthy state — before any injury. Think of it as a preseason physical for the brain. The result is stored, and if a concussion is ever suspected, the post-injury test is compared against that stored personal benchmark.
Aptiva Health uses ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), a computerized neurocognitive test used widely in concussion management. The test takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes and measures:
- Visual memory
- Verbal memory
- Processing speed
- Reaction time
- Attention and working memory
- Visual problem solving
Why comparing to your own normal matters
This is the single most useful thing baseline testing does, and it is easy to miss.
Cognitive abilities vary enormously between healthy people. Someone whose natural reaction time is unusually fast can be meaningfully impaired after a concussion and still score in the “average” range on a normative comparison. Without a baseline, that impairment can look like a normal result. With a baseline, the drop from their own pre-injury score is visible.
The reverse is also true. Someone who naturally scores below average — because of a learning difference, ADHD, test anxiety, or simply individual variation — can look impaired on a normative comparison when in fact their score is unchanged from their healthy state. A baseline protects that person from being told they are concussed when the data does not support it, and from an unnecessarily long time out of sport, school, or work.
What baseline testing is not
Being clear about the limits matters as much as the benefits:
- It does not prevent concussions. Nothing does, entirely.
- It does not, by itself, diagnose a concussion. Cognitive tests are one input. A diagnosis comes from the clinical picture: mechanism of injury, symptom report, neurological examination, vestibular and ocular-motor screening, and the test data together. Aptiva states this plainly — cognitive tests alone cannot diagnose a concussion.
- It does not replace clinical judgment about return to play. No single score clears an athlete.
- It is not required in order to be treated. If you never had a baseline and are concussed now, post-injury testing is still valuable — your results are compared against normative data for your age and sex, alongside everything else the clinician observes.
How often to repeat it
Research supports repeating a baseline annually. This matters especially for children and adolescents, whose cognitive performance changes rapidly as they develop — a baseline taken at 13 is not a fair comparison for an injury at 16.
Effort and validity
A predictable worry with baseline testing is “sandbagging” — deliberately underperforming on the baseline so that a later post-injury score looks normal and the athlete gets cleared faster. ImPACT includes built-in validity indicators designed to flag insufficient effort, and clinicians review those indicators before accepting a baseline as usable. A flagged baseline is repeated.
Who benefits most
- Student athletes, from youth leagues through high school and college
- Athletes in contact and collision sports, and in sports with fall or collision risk
- Anyone with a previous concussion history
- People in physically demanding or higher-risk occupations
- Military personnel and certain occupational groups
- Schools, teams, and organizations that want a consistent, documented concussion protocol rather than case-by-case decisions
For schools and organizations, a baseline program also produces something administratively valuable: a documented protocol applied consistently to every athlete.
How it is used after an injury
If a concussion is suspected, post-injury ImPACT testing provides an objective record of cognitive impairment rather than relying only on how the patient says they feel. It is used to:
- Document impairment objectively at the time of injury
- Track recovery over subsequent visits
- Inform — not decide — return-to-play and return-to-learn progression
Post-injury testing may be paired with a neurovestibular examination covering balance, vestibular, and vision function, and in some cases imaging to rule out bleeding or bruising.
Getting a baseline at Aptiva
Aptiva offers walk-in baseline testing at the Louisville Concussion Institute, 3611 Newburg Road:
- Tuesdays, 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM
- Wednesdays, 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM
- Fridays, 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM
No appointment is required during those hours. Questions about baseline testing, group or team testing, and cost can go to 502-430-3689. Some patients find cash-payPaying the provider directly instead of using insurance — often at a lower, upfront price, especially before you have met your deductible. pricing more cost-effective than running ImPACT through insurance — it is reasonable to ask for both prices before deciding.
Smart questions to ask
- Should my child or I have a baseline test, given our sport and history?
- How often should the baseline be repeated?
- If I am injured, who interprets the results, and what else goes into the diagnosis?
- Will my baseline be available to a different clinic if we move or travel?
- What does baseline testing cost with my insurance, and what does it cost as cash-pay?
Sources
- Aptiva Health — Baseline Concussion Testing
- Aptiva Health — Post-Injury Concussion Testing
- CDC — HEADS UP for Coaches
- Consensus statement on concussion in sport — 6th International Conference, Amsterdam 2022 (British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2023)