Heading ball causes brain injury
16 Jan 2012 by Evoluted New Media
Advanced cognitive testing of amateur footballers has revealed frequent heading of the ball can lead to brain injury and cognitive impairment.
In the first of two studies, researchers identified five areas in the frontal lobe and the temporo-occipital region of the brain that were affected by heading – areas that are responsible for attention, memory, executive functioning and high-order visual functions.
Researchers used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on 38 amateur footballers who had played the sport since childhood. Participants were asked to recall the number of times they headed the ball in the past year to help researchers ranked them based on heading frequency.
Researchers then compared the brain images of the most frequent headers with the remaining players. The most frequent headers showed brain injury similar to concussion patients. Analysis revealed a threshold level of approximately 1,000 to 1,500 heads per year. Once exceeded, researchers observed a significant injury.
“While heading the ball 1,000 or 1,500 times a year may seem high to those who don’t participate in the sport, it only amounts to a few times a day for a regular player,” said Dr Michael Lipton, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
“Heading a soccer ball is not an impact of a magnitude that will lacerate nerve fibre in the brain, but repetitive heading may set off a cascade of responses that can lead to degeneration of brain cells.”
In the second study, researchers tested the neuropsychological function of same 38 participants. The players with the highest annual heading frequency performed worse on tests of verbal memory and psychomotor speed – activities that require mind-body coordination – relative to their peers.
“These two studies present compelling evidence that brain injury and cognitive impairment can result from heading a soccer ball with high frequency,” said Lipton. “These are findings that should be taken into consideration in planning future research to develop approaches to protect soccer players.”
- An interview with Dr Lipton
