Citation

Multani N, Goswami R, Colella B, Khodadadi M, Ebraheem A, Davis KD, Tator CH, Wennberg R, Mikulis DJ, Ezerins L, Tartaglia MC. J. Neurol. 2016; 263(7): 1332-1341.

Affiliation

Division of Neurology, Toronto Western Hospital, Krembil Neuroscience Centre, University Health Network, 399 Bathurst St., Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8, Canada. carmela.tartaglia@uhn.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00415-016-8141-0

PMID

27142715

Abstract

Retired professional athletes, who have suffered repetitive concussions, report symptoms of depression, anxiety, and memory impairment over time. Moreover, recent imaging data suggest chronic white-matter tract deterioration in sport-related concussion. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of repetitive concussions in retired professional Canadian football (and soccer) players on white-matter tracts, and relate these changes to neuropsychological function. All subjects (18 retired professional football players and 17 healthy controls) underwent imaging, neuropsychological assessment, and reported on concussion-related symptoms. Whole brain tract-based spatial statistics analysis revealed increased axial diffusivity in the right hemisphere of retired players in the (1) superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), (2) corticospinal tract, and (3) anterior thalamic radiations, suggesting chronic axonal degeneration in these tracts. Moreover, retired players report significantly higher neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms than healthy controls, and worsening of these symptoms since their last concussion. Loss of integrity in the right SLF significantly correlated with participants' visual learning ability. In sum, these results suggest that repetitive concussions in retired professional football players are associated with focal white-matter tract abnormalities that could explain some of the neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits experienced by these retired athletes.

Language: en