Soccer Players Show Brain Shrinkage
College-age soccer players may show some degree of brain-tissue shrinkage, according to a study published in the July 2007 issue of the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine.
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, John Adams and colleagues at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio report in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine.
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