A concussion can be called an mTBI but mTBI is usually used to describe something worse than a concussion. Brain injury can be viewed along a continuum that incorporates concussion, mild traumatic brain injury, moderate traumatic brain injury and severe traumatic brain injury. There is an overlap between each term.

An mTBI is usually not an injury that the victim can get up and walk away from. There will be immediate symptoms that interrupt normal self-directed function.