Citation

Misquitta K, Dadar M, Tarazi A, Hussain MW, Alatwi MK, Ebraheem A, Multani N, Khodadadi M, Goswami R, Wennberg R, Tator C, Green R, Colella B, Davis KD, Mikulis D, Grinberg M, Sato C, Rogaeva E, Louis Collins D, Tartaglia MC. Neuroimage (Amst) 2018; 19: 551-558.

Affiliation

Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.nicl.2018.05.014

PMID

29984163

PMCID

PMC6029563

Abstract

Multiple concussions, particularly in contact sports, have been associated with cognitive deficits, psychiatric impairment and neurodegenerative diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy. We used volumetric and deformation-based morphometric analyses to test the hypothesis that repeated concussions may be associated with smaller regional brain volumes, poorer cognitive performance and behavioural symptoms among former professional football players compared to healthy controls. This study included fifty-three retired Canadian Football League players, 25 age- and education-matched healthy controls, and controls from the Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience database for validation. Volumetric analyses revealed greater hippocampal atrophy than expected for age in former athletes with multiple concussions than controls and smaller left hippocampal volume was associated with poorer verbal memory performance in the former athletes. Deformation-based morphometry confirmed smaller bilateral hippocampal volume that was associated with poorer verbal memory performance in athletes. Repeated concussions may lead to greater regional atrophy than expected for age.

Language: en

Keywords

Aging; Deformation based morphometry; Mild traumatic brain injury; Sport-related concussion