Quantified Head-Ball Impacts in Soccer: A Preliminary, Prospective Study

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Sports Medicine
• Neurology

Background:

• Repetitive head impacts are linked to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
• Current CTE diagnosis is postmortem, limiting cause-effect studies.
• Diffusion MRI offers in vivo assessment of brain microstructure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate white matter microstructural changes after soccer heading using diffusion MRI.
• To correlate these changes with head impact magnitude.
• To assess changes at acute (day 1), subacute (day 90), and chronic (day 180) intervals.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study with 12 male participants (6 soccer players, 6 controls).
• Diffusion-weighted MRI (HARDI protocols) acquired at multiple time points.
• Soccer heading protocol with instrumented mouthguard for impact measurement.

Main Results:

• Significant white matter microstructural changes observed at day 90 post-heading.
• Changes correlated strongly with head impact magnitude.
• Fewer significant changes noted at day 1 and day 180.

Conclusions:

• The magnitude of repeated soccer headers correlates with white matter microstructural changes.
• Further research is needed to determine long-term brain health implications.
• Diffusion MRI is a viable tool for in vivo assessment of head impact-related brain changes.