VIDEO - Concussion Test: My Next Movie Will Not Be 'Total Recall'

There is something prophetic about taking a concussion baseline test just prior to your birthday.

I have always had a good memory for names and faces – a valuable tool in this type of job.

But the wasn't interested in that particular facet of my brain last Friday at . The test is about reaction time, which is critical in every sport, and knowing how to bring information back up from short-term storage – an important element in the classroom.

So even though athletes take the test, the reality is that it's being taken by students because many of the skills they use on the field are duplicated in the classroom.

The computer-driven test asks for a comprehensive background on an athlete's health history with particular attention paid to those who have suffered concussions before. There were a couple in the classroom I sat in along with more than a dozen incoming freshmen football players.

The test itself is intense. I spend a considerable amount of time on a computer, but nothing on the level of concentration this seemed to require.

• For example, one of the hardest tests was being shown different line designs. It looked like the kind of doodle found in any student's notebook. But you had to try to recall the ones that had been shown versus the ones that had not.

• Another test showed a screen filled with X's and O's. It certainly didn't look like any playbook I had ever seen. Only three of the letters were highlighted in yellow. You had to remember which ones, but of course they gave you another test in the meantime to determine later if you remembered what was the exact location of the three letters.

• Another seemingly easy test was clicking on the words Green, Red and Blue, but only if the letters of the word and the box surrounding them were of the same color. They are looking for speed as well as accuracy here, so even though it sounds easy, when you think of speed, sometimes you forget accuracy and click when you shouldn't.

• One of the last tests is a box containing the numbers 1 through 25. You are supposed to click on the boxes in descending order. But first, before that part of the test comes up, you are presented three letters that flash on the screen a few times. After clicking furiously on the numerals, they ask you to recall the three letters.

Finally, the test concludes by having to recall words which were flashed on the screen at the start of the test. By this time, nearly 30 minutes have passed and your brain is about to surrender. Those wonderful line designs return as well.

It was hard enough trying to complete the test with no history of a concussion. Imagine trying to complete it with one. No way, and that's a good thing.

Lake Forest athletic trainer Jeff Dooley noted the test is not the bottom line to determining whether an athlete return to the playing field or not. But, it does give them a basis of comparison and an opportunity to see a student/athlete perform tasks that are vital to their performance on the field and in the classroom.