NEW YORK - COLLEGE-AGE soccer players may show some degree of
brain-tissue shrinkage, a small study has found - adding to
evidence that the sport carries a risk of long-term brain
injury.
Using high-resolution MRI brain scans, researchers found evidence
of reduced gray matter in the brains of 10 male college soccer
players, compared with 10 young men who had never played the
sport.
Gray matter refers to the brain tissue that controls thinking and
memory. The significance of the relatively smaller gray matter
volume and density seen in these players is not yet clear, the
researchers say.
However, some past studies have found that professional and even
college-age soccer players are more likely to show problems with
memory and attention than non-players.
Among players in the current study, reduced gray matter was seen in
a part of the brain called the anterior temporal cortex - which is
consistent with effects from repeated knocks to the front of the
head, Dr John Adams and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati
College of Medicine in Ohio report in the Clinical Journal of
Sports Medicine.
Like many other sports, soccer carries some risk of concussion,
from players colliding with each other or with the ground, for
instance. Multiple concussions over time can cause brain
damage.
It's still a matter of debate, though, whether the ordinary knocks
involved in 'heading' the soccer ball raise the risk of brain
injury.
Of the 10 soccer players in the current study, only 2 said they had
suffered a mild concussion in the past, while none reported a
history of serious head injury. It is impossible to tell exactly
why the players showed relatively less gray matter than the
comparison group.
'I'd be very reluctant to ascribe this purely to heading,' said
study co-author Dr Caleb Adler, an assistant professor of
psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College
of Medicine.
The bottom line, he said is that while these findings are
preliminary, they add to evidence that soccer is 'not an entirely
benign sport'. -- REUTERS
