Concussions Affect Former NFL Players’ Cognitive Ability: Study

Several studies have shown that strikes received by American football players can affect their brains, and a recent study found that former professional football players who stated that he suffered from symptoms I’m shockedno brain have lower cognitive abilities.

A study by researchers at Mass General Brigham, McLean Hospital and the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network found that former NFL players who reported that he had symptoms of a concussion during their football careers they received lower performance in a battery of cognitive tests than non-players.

Of more than 350 former NFL players who were screened an average of 29 years after their playing career ended, those who reported suffering from a concussion during their career received worse scores on tests of episodic memory, sustained attention, processing speed, and vocabulary.

The investigation carried out additional analysis, which compared former players to more than 5,000 male volunteers from the general population. who did not play professional football and found that the cognitive performance of former players was generally worse than that of non-players. While younger former players outperformed non-players on some tests, older retirees were more likely to perform worse on cognitive tasks than the control group.

The researchers who led the study said their findings highlight The Importance of Watching for Concussion Symptomsl in contrast to the concussion diagnosed in the course of the studies. This work also adds to the evidence for the impact of a professional football career on accelerating cognitive aging.

“These new results from the largest study of its kind show that professional football players may continue to experience cognitive difficulties associated with head trauma decades after retirement sports,” said study lead author Laura Germin, Ph.D., director of the Brain Technology and Cognitive Health Laboratory at McLean Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Concussions May Accelerate Cognitive Decline

These comparative data show that Football exposure may accelerate cognitive decline are age-related and lead to more severe handicaps later in life, according to the researchers, who added that more research is needed to track the cognitive abilities of former players as they age.

Another possibility is that awareness and treatment of traumatic brain injury has improved. Young retirees save more than older ones. The researchers also noted that this comparative finding is limited by the lack of data on pre-TBI cognition, and that more research is needed that carefully compares former players and non-players and measures their cognitive performance throughout their lives.

“For both former players and researchers, we can draw some important conclusions of this study,” said Ross Zafonte, DO, principal investigator of the Football Health Study. “I knowxgamers can maintain their cognitive health as they age take proactive steps and continue to consult with your health care providers and learn about the symptoms of a head injury. For researchers and healthcare professionals, these results support efforts to develop ways to improve diagnosis and determine the long-term effects of concussion.”

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