Citation

Recht G, Hou J, Buddenbaum C, Cheng H, Newman SD, Saykin AJ, Kawata K. Cereb. Cortex 2024; 34(7): bhae301.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/cercor/bhae301

PMID

39077916

Abstract

The lifetime effects of repetitive head impacts have captured considerable public and scientific interest over the past decade, yet a knowledge gap persists in our understanding of midlife neurological well-being, particularly in amateur level athletes. This study aimed to identify the effects of lifetime exposure to sports-related head impacts on brain morphology in retired, amateur athletes. This cross-sectional study comprised of 37 former amateur contact sports athletes and 21 age- and sex-matched noncontact athletes. High-resolution anatomical, T1 scans were analyzed for the cortical morphology, including cortical thickness, sulcal depth, and sulcal curvature, and cognitive function was assessed using the Dementia Rating Scale-2. Despite no group differences in cognitive functions, the contact group exhibited significant cortical thinning particularly in the bilateral frontotemporal regions and medial brain regions, such as the cingulate cortex and precuneus, compared to the noncontact group. Deepened sulcal depth and increased sulcal curvature across all four lobes of the brain were also notable in the contact group. These data suggest that brain morphology of middle-aged former amateur contact athletes differs from that of noncontact athletes and that lifetime exposure to repetitive head impacts may be associated with neuroanatomical changes.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Aged; Female; Male; Middle Aged; cognition; traumatic brain injury; concussion; *Athletes; *Cerebral Cortex/diagnostic imaging/pathology/anatomy & histology; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Athletic Injuries/pathology/diagnostic imaging; Brain Concussion/pathology/diagnostic imaging; chronic traumatic encephalopathy; Cognition/physiology; cortical thickness