Heading the ball in soccer may be related to structural and functional brain changes as measured by (f)MRI. Regional brain volumes, cortical thickness and functional connectivity (FC) have been shown to be associated with repetitive head impacts (RHI), although causality, dose response relationships and clinical modifiers are still vividly debated. Most data have so far only been derived from cross-sectional studies and therefore contains some methodological flaws. In this presentation data from a longitudinal study will be presented that included 14 active professional soccer players (mean age 20.36 ± 3.34 years). MRI scans (3T), neuropsychological and neurophysiological assessments were performed before and after an observation period of 12-18 months (median 17.2 months), during which each training session and game was recorded on video to allow characterization of each header performed by any player who participated in the study. Structural T1 images and resting state fMRI sequences were used to analyze changes in cortical thickness and functional connectivity between the two time points (controlled for age) with specific emphasis to the default mode network (medial prefrontal cortex, lateral parietal left and right, posterior cingulate cortex) representing the default mode network (DMN), as the DMN is one of the primary targets for RHI induced structural or functional brain changes. During the observation period between 146 and 943 (median 340.5) headers per player were recorded and used as a regressor for the imaging as well as neurophysiological and neuropsychological data. Cortical thickness measures in single clusters were higher before the observation, but no significant correlation with heading frequency was detected. FC changed significantly from pre- to post-observation in a cluster comprising the superior frontal gyrus and frontal pole bilaterally, but also without significantly correlating with heading frequency. Results will be discussed in relation to clinical, neuropsychological and neurophysiological data as well as characteristics of headers beyond frequency (e.g. playing situation, length of pass leading to header, header duel etc.) and clinical recommendations will be provided.
© Copyright 2022 27th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Sevilla, 30. Aug - 2. Sep 2022. Published by Faculty of Sport Science - Universidad Pablo de Olavide. All rights reserved.