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Soccer Heading Linked to Measurable Decline of Brain Structure and Function Over Two Years

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2024-12-12 01:00:15

The PET Center empowers scientists and physicians in the treatment of disease by leading in safety, innovation, education, and efficiency.

A new study at Columbia University Irving Medical Center links soccer heading—where players hit the ball with their heads to direct it during play—to a decline in brain structure and function over a two-year period. The research is being presented for the first time at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago this week.

While previous research has examined adverse effects on the brain related to soccer heading at a single point in time, the new findings are the first to show brain changes over two years.

“There is enormous worldwide concern for brain injury in general and the potential for soccer heading to cause long-term adverse brain effects in particular,” said senior author Michael L. Lipton, MD, PhD, professor of radiology at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and affiliate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University.

“A large part of this concern relates to the potential for changes in young adulthood to confer risk for neurodegeneration and dementia later in life.”