Research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London suggests that retired professional soccer players may show signs of potential neurological impacts in midlife. The study found that former players were more likely to report anxiety, depression, and problems with thinking or decision-making compared to people who had not played contact sports.
Brain Impacts and Soccer
The research team looked at many measures of impact, including questionnaires, clinical assessments, and brain scans. Among the 142 former players, brain scans did not show significant impacts on cognition, but did show lower gray matter in regions that affect memory, decision-making, attention, and emotional regulation.
The concern is really about repeated hits to the head over the course of a lifetime, said Dr. Michael Alosco, codirector of clinical research for the Boston University CTE Center. In soccer, this can come from collisions, but an important source is when players hit the ball with their head, called a “header.”
Efforts have been implemented to protect brain health, such as the US Soccer Federation banning headers in 2016 for players younger than 10 and limiting how long 11- to 13-year-olds could practice them each week.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
