Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Department, University Hospital of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
"Handicap, Activity, Cognition & Health" Team, INSERM, BPH, U1219, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
J Neurosci Res. 2021 Feb;99(2):446-454. doi: 10.1002/jnr.24742. Epub 2020 Oct 21.
Soccer, as a contact sport, exposes players to repetitive head impacts, especially through heading the ball. The question of a long-term brain cumulative effect remains. Our objective was to determine whether exposure to head impacts over one soccer season was associated with changes in functional brain connectivity at rest, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this prospective cohort study, 10 semi-professional men soccer players, aged 18-25 years, and 20 age-matched men athletes without a concussion history and who do not practice any contact sport were recruited in Bordeaux (France). Exposure to head impacts per soccer player during competitive games over one season was measured using video analysis. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired for both groups at two times, before and after the season. With a seed-based analysis, resting-state networks that have been intimately associated with aspects of cognitive functioning were investigated. The results showed a mean head impacts of 42 (±33) per soccer player over the season, mainly intentional head-to-ball impacts and no concussion. No head impact was found among the other athletes. The number of head impacts between the two MRI acquisitions before and after the season was associated with increased connectivity within the default mode network and the cortico-cerebellar network. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the brain functioning changes over one soccer season in association with exposure to repetitive head impacts.
足球是一项接触性运动，球员会反复受到头部撞击，尤其是头球。目前仍存在长期脑累积效应的问题。我们的目的是通过磁共振成像（MRI）来确定一个足球赛季中头部撞击的暴露是否与静息状态下的大脑功能连接变化有关。在这项前瞻性队列研究中，我们招募了 10 名年龄在 18-25 岁之间的半职业男性足球运动员和 20 名年龄匹配、无脑震荡史且不从事任何接触性运动的男性运动员。使用视频分析来测量每个足球运动员在一个赛季的比赛中受到的头部撞击次数。在赛季前后两次，对两组运动员进行静息态功能磁共振成像数据采集。通过基于种子的分析，研究了与认知功能密切相关的静息态网络。结果显示，在整个赛季中，每个足球运动员平均受到 42（±33）次头部撞击，主要是头部与球的有意撞击，没有脑震荡。其他运动员没有头部撞击。在赛季前后两次 MRI 采集之间的头部撞击次数与默认模式网络和皮质-小脑网络内的连接增加有关。总之，我们的发现表明，在一个足球赛季中，大脑功能会因反复受到头部撞击而发生变化。
