Source: horsetalk.co.nz | Repost Duerson Fund 4/24/2023 –
A study involving former top-level American football players has linked those who experienced concussion symptoms during their careers with reduced cognitive performance decades after retirement.
The study, reported in the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, used data from the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University.
Former professional football players who reported concussion symptoms during their playing careers were found to perform worse on a battery of cognitive tests than non-players, according to the study led by investigators at the Boston-based non-profit hospital Mass General Brigham.
Of the more than 350 former National Football League 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.