You’re likely already familiar with
news articles linking brain concussions with injury to cognitive abilities.
Now, using a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers at the
Indiana University School of Medicine and the Geisel School of Medicine at
Dartmouth College found significant differences in brain white matter of
varsity football and hockey players compared with a group of noncontact-sport
athletes following one season of competition. White matter is composed
primarily of axons, the long fibers that transmit signals between neurons.
According to Thomas W. McAllister MD, chair of the IU Department of Psychiatry:
This study raises the question of whether we should look not only at
concussions but also the number of times athletes receive blows to the head and
the magnitude of those blows, whether or not they are diagnosed with a
concussion.” Some athletes may be more susceptible
to repeated head impacts that do not involve concussions, although much more
research would be necessary to determine how to identify those athletes. More
work would also be necessary to determine whether the effects of the nonconcussion
head impacts are long-lasting or permanent, and whether they are cumulative.
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