Mark Tommerdahl

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Mark Tommerdahl is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on the critical intersection of cognitive assessment, neurotrauma, and sensory neuroscience. His major contributions center on exposing the methodological flaws in widely used online concussion testing, particularly regarding reaction time measurements. Tommerdahl has demonstrated that consumer-grade computer systems introduce significant technical problems that compromise the validity of visual and tactile reaction time assessments, which are fundamental metrics in most online cognitive toolkits. His work has garnered attention, with his most cited papers accumulating 18 and 11 citations respectively, establishing him as a critical voice in the field of concussion diagnostics. Notably, Tommerdahl has argued that while reaction time can provide objective metrics of concussion, current deployment methods are fundamentally flawed. His research has important implications for sports medicine, military health, and clinical neurology, where accurate concussion assessment is crucial. By identifying these methodological problems, Tommerdahl has paved the way for more rigorous and reliable approaches to online cognitive testing, challenging the field to develop better standards for neurocognitive assessment in the digital age.