Sportsmen often have traumas that can affect their health, and not all of these traumas are easy to see right from the start.
A recent study indicates a connection between soccer heading, where footballers hit the ball with their head, and a quite noticeable decline in the microstructure and function of the brain over two years.
Let's find out more.
A worrying experiment
The experiment involved 149 young adult amateur soccer players, averaging 26 years old, who underwent assessments for verbal learning and memory.
To gauge heading frequency, a specialized test categorized exposure as low, moderate, or high over the two years.
Findings show that the high-heading group (those heading over 1,500 times in two years) displayed brain microstructure changes akin to mild traumatic brain injuries.
Increased heading was also tied to a notable decline in their verbal learning performance.
Another experiment by the specialists utilized DTI to explore the link between repetitive head impacts from soccer heading and also verbal learning performance.
Examining heading over a year, the experiment found that the usually distinct boundary between gray and white matter in the brain was less clear in individuals with their high repetitive head impacts.
Why it's important
The experiment results raise concerns about the possible long-term negative effects of soccer heading, especially during young adulthood, and its connection to changes in cognitive performance and brain microstructure.
Previously, we talked about new hope for people with hearing loss.
