MSGID: 1:317/3 6402c97a   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    NFL players who experienced concussion symptoms during careers show   
   reduced cognitive performance decades after retirement    
      
     Date:   
         March 3, 2023   
     Source:   
         Mass General Brigham   
     Summary:   
         More than 350 former NFL players were studied on average 29   
         years after their playing careers ended. Retirees who experienced   
         concussion symptoms during their playing careers were found to   
         perform worse on a battery of cognitive tests. When comparing the   
         retired players to more than 5,000 men who did not play football,   
         cognitive performance was generally worse for former players,   
         with older players performing worse.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Former professional football players who reported experiencing concussion   
   symptoms during their playing careers were found to perform worse on   
   a battery of cognitive tests than non-players, according to a study   
   led by Mass General Brigham investigators from McLean Hospital and   
   Spaulding Rehabilitation Network. Results of the study are published   
   March 2ndinArchives of Clinical Neuropsychology.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Of the more than 350 former National Football League (NFL) players who   
   were studied an average of 29 years after their playing career ended,   
   those who reported experiencing concussion symptoms during their careers   
   scored worse on assessments of episodic memory, sustained attention,   
   processing speed and vocabulary. However, the number of concussions   
   diagnosed by a medical professional or length of playing career had no   
   observed effect on cognition.   
      
   A follow-up analysis compared the former players to more than 5,000   
   male volunteers in the general population who did not play professional   
   football, which found that cognitive performance was generally worse for   
   former players than nonplayers. While younger former players outperformed   
   nonplayers on some tests, older retired players more likely to perform   
   worse than controls on cognitive tasks.   
      
   The researchers who led the study said that their results underline   
   the importance of tracking concussion symptoms as opposed to diagnosed   
   concussions in research. This work also adds evidence to the impact a   
   professional football career can have on accelerating cognitive aging.   
      
   "It is well-established that in the hours and days after a concussion,   
   people experience some cognitive impairment. However, when you look   
   decades out, the data on the long-term impact have been mixed," said study   
   senior author Laura Germine, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Brain and   
   Cognitive Health Technology at McLean Hospital and associate professor   
   of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. "These new findings from the   
   largest study of its kind show that professional football players can   
   still experience cognitive difficulties associated with head injuries   
   decades after they have retired from the sport."  Concussion Symptoms   
   Linked to Cognitive Performance For the study, 353 retired NFL players   
   completed hour-long neuropsychological tests through an online platform   
   called TestMyBrain, which is supported by McLean Hospital and Harvard   
   Medical School. Players were fully remote and completed tests on a laptop   
   or desktop that included assessments that measured processing speed,   
   visual-spatial and working memory, and aspects of short- and long-term   
   memory and vocabulary.   
      
   Recollected concussion symptoms were measured by asking the players   
   the number of times they experienced any one of the following symptoms   
   following a blow to the head during play or practice: headaches, nausea,   
   dizziness, loss of consciousness, memory problems, disorientation,   
   confusion, seizure, visual problems or feeling unsteady on their   
   feet. They were also asked whether they lost consciousness during their   
   careers, and whether they were ever diagnosed with a concussion by a   
   medical professional.   
      
   The results showed that the former players' cognitive performance   
   (for example, on memory tasks) was associated with recalled football   
   concussion symptoms. For example, differences observed in visual memory   
   scores between former players with the highest and lowest reported   
   concussion symptoms were equivalent to the differences in cognitive   
   performance between a typical 35-year-old and 60-year- old.   
      
   However, poor cognitive performance was not associated with diagnosed   
   concussions, years of professional play or age of first football   
   exposure. The researchers noted that many head injuries or sub-concussive   
   blows may not have been diagnosed as concussions due to a lack of   
   awareness at the time or underreporting of symptoms by players.   
      
   When comparing the retired players to a group of 5,086 men who did not   
   play football, cognitive performance was generally worse for former   
   players. On two tests of processing speed, age-related differences in   
   cognitive performance were larger among the former player group than   
   the nonplayer group, with older players performing worse.   
      
   These comparison data suggest that football exposure might accelerate   
   age- related cognitive declines and produce greater disadvantages at   
   older ages, according to the researchers, who added that more studies   
   are needed to track cognitive performance in former players as they   
   age. Another possibility is that improved awareness and management of   
   head injuries may have spared younger retired players more than older   
   ones. The researchers also noted that this comparative finding is limited   
   by a lack of data on cognition prior to head injuries, and that more   
   research is needed that closely matches former players and nonplayers   
   and measures their cognitive performances across their lifetimes.   
      
   "For both former players and researchers, we can glean some important   
   takeaways from this study," said principal investigator of the Football   
   Players Health Study, Ross Zafonte, DO. "Former players can support their   
   cognitive health as they age by taking proactive steps, and continuing to   
   consult with their providers and educate themselves on symptoms of head   
   injury. For researchers and providers, these findings support efforts   
   to develop ways to enhance diagnosis and define long-term sequalae of   
   concussion." Zafonte is president of Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, a   
   Mass General Brigham sports medicine physician, and the Earle P. and Ida   
   S. Charlton Professor and Chair of the Harvard Medical School Department   
   of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.   
      
   "The Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach taken in this   
   study is where this field is heading," said Germine. "We are grateful   
   to the players and how much they have taught us. It would not have been   
   possible to do a study like this without engaging and deeply involving   
   their community."  Research Driven by Input from Former NFL Players   
   The Football Players Health Study at Harvard University, launched in   
   2014, is a comprehensive research program dedicated to examining the   
   multifactorial causes that impact the health of former NFL players. The   
   research has been informed by the players themselves, who have provided   
   input on the health concerns and conditions they face after a career in   
   football. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Harvard University   
   and Harvard Medical School and its affiliated teaching hospitals,   
   including those in the Mass General Brigham system, conduct research   
   from neurology, cardiology, sports medicine, rehabilitation medicine,   
   chronic pain and public health. While concussion and head injury are   
   of paramount concern, the study examines all aspects of player health   
   across the life span. Former players can find important resources to   
   support their health in this section of the study's website.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Health_&_Medicine   
                   # Sports_Medicine # Healthy_Aging #   
                   Diseases_and_Conditions # Accident_and_Trauma   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Intelligence # Brain_Injury # Dementia # Behavior   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Runner's_knee o Soccer o Hair o Attention o Tennis_elbow o   
             The_evolution_of_human_intelligence o Cognitive_neuroscience   
             o Football   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Mass_General_Brigham. Note: Content   
   may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Roger W Strong, Rachel Grashow, Andrea L Roberts, Eliza Passell,   
      Luke   
         Scheuer, Douglas P Terry, Sarah Cohan, Alvaro Pascual-Leone,   
         Marc G Weisskopf, Ross D Zafonte, Laura T Germine. Association   
         of Retrospectively Reported Concussion Symptoms with Objective   
         Cognitive Performance in Former American-Style Football   
         Players. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 2023; DOI:   
         10.1093/arclin/acad008   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230303105233.htm   
      
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