Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer Study
IntroductionThe objective of this study is to assess the role of age at first exposure (AFE) to soccer heading as a predictor of known adverse associations of recent and longer-term heading with brain microstructure, cognitive, and behavioral features among adult amateur soccer players.MethodsThe sa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1042707/full |
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| author | Molly F. Charney Molly F. Charney Kenny Q. Ye Kenny Q. Ye Roman Fleysher Roman Fleysher Bluyé DeMessie Bluyé DeMessie Walter F. Stewart Molly E. Zimmerman Mimi Kim Richard B. Lipton Richard B. Lipton Richard B. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton |
| author_facet | Molly F. Charney Molly F. Charney Kenny Q. Ye Kenny Q. Ye Roman Fleysher Roman Fleysher Bluyé DeMessie Bluyé DeMessie Walter F. Stewart Molly E. Zimmerman Mimi Kim Richard B. Lipton Richard B. Lipton Richard B. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton |
| author_sort | Molly F. Charney |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionThe objective of this study is to assess the role of age at first exposure (AFE) to soccer heading as a predictor of known adverse associations of recent and longer-term heading with brain microstructure, cognitive, and behavioral features among adult amateur soccer players.MethodsThe sample included 276 active amateur soccer players (196 male and 81 female) aged 18–53 years old. AFE to soccer heading was treated as a binary variable, dichotomized at ≤ 10 years vs. >10 years old, based on a recently promulgated US Soccer policy, which bans heading for athletes ages 10 and under.ResultsWe found that soccer players who began heading at age 10 or younger performed better on tests of working memory (p = 0.03) and verbal learning (p = 0.02), while accounting for duration of heading exposure, education, sex, and verbal intelligence. No difference in brain microstructure or behavioral measures was observed between the two exposure groups.DiscussionThe findings indicate that, among adult amateur soccer players, AFE to heading before age 10 compared to later start of heading, is not associated with adverse outcomes, and may be associated with better cognitive performance in young adulthood. Cumulative heading exposure across the lifespan, rather than early life exposure, may drive risk for adverse effects and should be the focus of future longitudinal studies to inform approaches to enhance player safety. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:23:24Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-2295 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T16:23:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-43cb5c1ed75942ecac00271fec16c5462023-02-09T08:41:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952023-02-011410.3389/fneur.2023.10427071042707Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer StudyMolly F. Charney0Molly F. Charney1Kenny Q. Ye2Kenny Q. Ye3Roman Fleysher4Roman Fleysher5Bluyé DeMessie6Bluyé DeMessie7Walter F. Stewart8Molly E. Zimmerman9Mimi Kim10Richard B. Lipton11Richard B. Lipton12Richard B. Lipton13Michael L. Lipton14Michael L. Lipton15Michael L. Lipton16Michael L. Lipton17Gruss Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Systems and Computational Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United StatesGruss Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesGruss Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesMedcurio Inc., Oakland, CA, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United StatesSaul B. Korey Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Neurology, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesGruss Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Radiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United States0Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United StatesIntroductionThe objective of this study is to assess the role of age at first exposure (AFE) to soccer heading as a predictor of known adverse associations of recent and longer-term heading with brain microstructure, cognitive, and behavioral features among adult amateur soccer players.MethodsThe sample included 276 active amateur soccer players (196 male and 81 female) aged 18–53 years old. AFE to soccer heading was treated as a binary variable, dichotomized at ≤ 10 years vs. >10 years old, based on a recently promulgated US Soccer policy, which bans heading for athletes ages 10 and under.ResultsWe found that soccer players who began heading at age 10 or younger performed better on tests of working memory (p = 0.03) and verbal learning (p = 0.02), while accounting for duration of heading exposure, education, sex, and verbal intelligence. No difference in brain microstructure or behavioral measures was observed between the two exposure groups.DiscussionThe findings indicate that, among adult amateur soccer players, AFE to heading before age 10 compared to later start of heading, is not associated with adverse outcomes, and may be associated with better cognitive performance in young adulthood. Cumulative heading exposure across the lifespan, rather than early life exposure, may drive risk for adverse effects and should be the focus of future longitudinal studies to inform approaches to enhance player safety.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1042707/fullsoccerheadingDTINODDIcognitionimaging |
| spellingShingle | Molly F. Charney Molly F. Charney Kenny Q. Ye Kenny Q. Ye Roman Fleysher Roman Fleysher Bluyé DeMessie Bluyé DeMessie Walter F. Stewart Molly E. Zimmerman Mimi Kim Richard B. Lipton Richard B. Lipton Richard B. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Michael L. Lipton Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer Study Frontiers in Neurology soccer heading DTI NODDI cognition imaging |
| title | Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer Study |
| title_full | Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer Study |
| title_fullStr | Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer Study |
| title_short | Age of first exposure to soccer heading: Associations with cognitive, clinical, and imaging outcomes in the Einstein Soccer Study |
| title_sort | age of first exposure to soccer heading associations with cognitive clinical and imaging outcomes in the einstein soccer study |
| topic | soccer heading DTI NODDI cognition imaging |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2023.1042707/full |
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