Department of Prevention, Health Promotion and Sports Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.
Amsterdam collaboration on Health & Safety in Sports, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Movement Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2020 Aug;26(7):645-653. doi: 10.1017/S1355617720000119. Epub 2020 Feb 26.
There is an ongoing debate on the potential negative effect of contact sport participation on long-term neurocognitive performance due to inherent exposure to concussive and subconcussive head impacts. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether cognitive ageing is exacerbated in elite soccer players compared to the general population.
Neurocognitive performance in 6 domains was compared between 240 elite soccer players and a normative sample from the general population (n = 585) using the computerised test battery CNS Vital Signs. We used two-way factorial ANOVA to analyse the interaction between age groups (15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 years) and study population (female soccer players vs. norm sample) in their effects on neurocognitive performance.
We found no significant interaction effect of age group and study population in five of six test domains. For processing speed, the effect of age was more pronounced in female soccer players (F = 16.89, p = .002). Further, there was a clear main effect of study population on neurocognitive performance with generally better scores in soccer players.
Elite female soccer players generally performed better than the norm sample on tests of cognitive function, and further, cognitive ageing effects were similar in elite soccer players and controls in all but one domain. A lifespan approach may facilitate insightful future research regarding questions related to long-term neurocognitive health in contact sport athletes.
由于接触性运动固有地会导致脑震荡和亚脑震荡的头部冲击，因此人们一直在争论参与接触性运动是否会对长期神经认知表现产生潜在的负面影响。本研究的目的是调查与普通人群相比，精英足球运动员的认知老化是否更为严重。
使用计算机化的 CNS Vital Signs 测试组合，比较了 240 名精英足球运动员和普通人群（n = 585）在 6 个领域的神经认知表现。我们使用双因素方差分析来分析年龄组（15-19、20-29、30-39、40-49 岁）和研究人群（女性足球运动员与常规样本）之间的相互作用对神经认知表现的影响。
我们在 6 个测试领域中的 5 个领域中均未发现年龄组和研究人群的显著交互效应。在处理速度方面，女性足球运动员的年龄效应更为明显（F = 16.89，p =.002）。此外，研究人群对神经认知表现的影响有明显的主要作用，足球运动员的得分通常更高。
精英女性足球运动员在认知功能测试中的表现普遍优于常规样本，并且在除一个领域外，精英足球运动员和对照组的认知老化效应相似。终身研究方法可能有助于对接触性运动运动员的长期神经认知健康相关问题进行有见地的未来研究。
