TY - JOUR
T1 - Cortical thickness and neurocognitive performance in former high-level female soccer and non-contact sport athletes
AU - Haase, Franziska Katharina
AU - Prien, Annika
AU - Douw, Linda
AU - Feddermann-Demont, Nina
AU - Junge, Astrid
AU - Reinsberger, Claus
N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank all participating players who volunteered their time to provide the data for this project. We especially thank Birgit Prinz, Leonne Stentler and Evert Verhagen for their invaluable help with the recruitment of retired German and Dutch elite athletes. The authors further thank Alexander Grafe and Victoria Sump for coordination and administration of the neurocognitive testing. The authors gratefully acknowledge FIFA for the funding of this study. The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding of this project by computing time provided by the Paderborn Center for Parallel Computing (PC2) and especially thank Dr. Axel Keller for the well appreciated help. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Funding Information: CR receives grant support from the German Federal Institute of Sports Sciences and the Heinz Nixdorf Westfalian Foundation on projects not related to the presented topic. He serves as hygiene officer and as a member of the medical commission of the German Football Association (DFB) and is a medical advisor on concussion for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). All other authors declare no conflicts of interest. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science In Sports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - Background: Long-term effects of playing soccer (football) on the brain structure and function of the brain are vividly debated. While some studies showed differences in neurocognitive performance and structural brain changes in retired male players, data on female players are scarce. The present study compares cortical thickness and neurocognitive performance in former high-level female soccer (SOC) and non-contact sport athletes (CON). Methods: 3 T T1-weighted 3D MPRAGE MRI was performed, and vertex-wise cortical thickness was analyzed using FreeSurfer (v. 6.0.0). Neurocognitive performance in seven domains of SOC and CON was assessed. A multivariate linear model was used to analyze interactions with respect to heading frequency and a history of concussion. Results: SOC (n = 15, mean age 38.3 ± 5.1 years) and CON (n = 16, mean age 36.6 ± 5.8 years) had a similar cortical thickness and performed similarly in the neurocognitive tests except for verbal memory and psychomotor speed, where SOC performed significantly worse than CON. Moderate headers had a significantly larger cortical thickness than rare headers in the right inferior parietal region. Visual memory and cortical thickness were positively correlated in the group of frequent headers and negatively correlated in CON, but not in the other header groups. Perspective: In contrast to previous reports in male soccer players, female players did not reveal cortical thinning in comparison with control athletes, whereas neurocognitive profiles of female soccer players might not significantly differ from male athletes. Small sample sizes, subjective header assessment, and the case–control study design require a cautious interpretation.
AB - Background: Long-term effects of playing soccer (football) on the brain structure and function of the brain are vividly debated. While some studies showed differences in neurocognitive performance and structural brain changes in retired male players, data on female players are scarce. The present study compares cortical thickness and neurocognitive performance in former high-level female soccer (SOC) and non-contact sport athletes (CON). Methods: 3 T T1-weighted 3D MPRAGE MRI was performed, and vertex-wise cortical thickness was analyzed using FreeSurfer (v. 6.0.0). Neurocognitive performance in seven domains of SOC and CON was assessed. A multivariate linear model was used to analyze interactions with respect to heading frequency and a history of concussion. Results: SOC (n = 15, mean age 38.3 ± 5.1 years) and CON (n = 16, mean age 36.6 ± 5.8 years) had a similar cortical thickness and performed similarly in the neurocognitive tests except for verbal memory and psychomotor speed, where SOC performed significantly worse than CON. Moderate headers had a significantly larger cortical thickness than rare headers in the right inferior parietal region. Visual memory and cortical thickness were positively correlated in the group of frequent headers and negatively correlated in CON, but not in the other header groups. Perspective: In contrast to previous reports in male soccer players, female players did not reveal cortical thinning in comparison with control athletes, whereas neurocognitive profiles of female soccer players might not significantly differ from male athletes. Small sample sizes, subjective header assessment, and the case–control study design require a cautious interpretation.
KW - (repetitive) head impacts
KW - MRI
KW - cognition
KW - cortical thickness
KW - football
KW - soccer
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149420790&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14324
DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14324
M3 - Article
C2 - 36746873
SN - 0905-7188
VL - 33
SP - 921
EP - 930
JO - Scandinavian journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
JF - Scandinavian journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
IS - 6
ER -