Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact Sports
University athletes are exposed to numerous impacts to the body and head, though the potential cumulative effects of such hits remain elusive. This study examined resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of brain networks in female varsity athletes over the course of a season. Nineteen female un...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Mary Ann Liebert
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Neurotrauma Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/NEUR.2022.0010 |
| _version_ | 1827374202265534464 |
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| author | Alyssia Wilson W. Dale Stevens Lauren Sergio Magdalena Wojtowicz |
| author_facet | Alyssia Wilson W. Dale Stevens Lauren Sergio Magdalena Wojtowicz |
| author_sort | Alyssia Wilson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | University athletes are exposed to numerous impacts to the body and head, though the potential cumulative effects of such hits remain elusive. This study examined resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of brain networks in female varsity athletes over the course of a season. Nineteen female university athletes involved in collision (N?=?12) and contact (N?=?7) sports underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans at both pre- and post-season. A group-level independent component analysis (ICA) was used to investigate differences in rsFC over the course of a season and differences between contact and collision sport athletes. Decreased rsFC was observed over the course of the season between the default mode network (DMN) and regions in the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobe (p false discovery rate, ?0.05) driven by differences in the contact group. There was also a main effect of group in the dorsal attention network (DAN) driven by differences between contact and collision groups at pre-season. Differences identified over the course of a season of play indicate largely decreased rsFC within the DMN, and level of contact was associated with differences in rsFC of the DAN. The association between exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHIs) and observed changes in network rsFC supplements the growing literature suggesting that even non-concussed athletes may be at risk for changes in brain functioning. However, the complexity of examining the direct effects of RHIs highlights the need to consider multiple factors, including mental health and sport-specific training and expertise, that may potentially be associated with neural changes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:29:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dbeb27f92f0b444b90dcbe337a8f205c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2689-288X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:29:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Mary Ann Liebert |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Neurotrauma Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-dbeb27f92f0b444b90dcbe337a8f205c2024-01-26T04:28:20ZengMary Ann LiebertNeurotrauma Reports2689-288X2022-09-013137738710.1089/NEUR.2022.0010Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact SportsAlyssia WilsonW. Dale StevensLauren SergioMagdalena WojtowiczUniversity athletes are exposed to numerous impacts to the body and head, though the potential cumulative effects of such hits remain elusive. This study examined resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of brain networks in female varsity athletes over the course of a season. Nineteen female university athletes involved in collision (N?=?12) and contact (N?=?7) sports underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans at both pre- and post-season. A group-level independent component analysis (ICA) was used to investigate differences in rsFC over the course of a season and differences between contact and collision sport athletes. Decreased rsFC was observed over the course of the season between the default mode network (DMN) and regions in the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobe (p false discovery rate, ?0.05) driven by differences in the contact group. There was also a main effect of group in the dorsal attention network (DAN) driven by differences between contact and collision groups at pre-season. Differences identified over the course of a season of play indicate largely decreased rsFC within the DMN, and level of contact was associated with differences in rsFC of the DAN. The association between exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHIs) and observed changes in network rsFC supplements the growing literature suggesting that even non-concussed athletes may be at risk for changes in brain functioning. However, the complexity of examining the direct effects of RHIs highlights the need to consider multiple factors, including mental health and sport-specific training and expertise, that may potentially be associated with neural changes.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/NEUR.2022.0010contact sportsfemale athletefunctional connectivityrepetitive head impact |
| spellingShingle | Alyssia Wilson W. Dale Stevens Lauren Sergio Magdalena Wojtowicz Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact Sports Neurotrauma Reports contact sports female athlete functional connectivity repetitive head impact |
| title | Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact Sports |
| title_full | Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact Sports |
| title_fullStr | Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact Sports |
| title_full_unstemmed | Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact Sports |
| title_short | Altered Brain Functional Connectivity in Female Athletes Over the Course of a Season of Collision or Contact Sports |
| title_sort | altered brain functional connectivity in female athletes over the course of a season of collision or contact sports |
| topic | contact sports female athlete functional connectivity repetitive head impact |
| url | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/NEUR.2022.0010 |
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