TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Longitudinal alteration of cortical thickness and volume in high-impact sports
JO  - NeuroImage
A1  - Mills, Brian D.
A1  - Goubran, Maged
A1  - Parivash, Sherveen N.
A1  - Dennis, Emily L.
A1  - Rezaii, Paymon
A1  - Akers, Carolyn
A1  - Bian, Wei
A1  - Mitchell, Lex A.
A1  - Boldt, Brian
A1  - Douglas, David
A1  - Sami, Sohrab
A1  - Mouchawar, Nicole
A1  - Wilson, Eugene W.
A1  - DiGiacomo, Phil
A1  - Parekh, Mansi
A1  - Do, Huy
A1  - López, Jaime
A1  - Rosenberg, Jarrett
A1  - Camarillo, David
A1  - Grant, Gerald
A1  - Wintermark, Max
A1  - Zeineh, Michael
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Collegiate football athletes are subject to repeated head impacts. The purpose of this study was to determine whether this exposure can lead to changes in brain structure. This prospective cohort study was conducted with up to 4 years of follow-up on 63 football (high-impact) and 34 volleyball (control) male collegiate athletes with a total of 315 MRI scans (after exclusions: football n=50, volleyball n= 24, total scans=273) using high-resolution structural imaging. Volumetric and cortical thickness estimates were derived using FreeSurfer 5.3's longitudinal pipeline. A linear mixed-effects model assessed the effect of group (football vs. volleyball), time from baseline MRI, and the interaction between group and time. We confirmed an expected developmental decrement in cortical thickness and volume in our cohort (p<0.001). Superimposed on this, total cortical gray matter volume (p =.03) and cortical thickness within the left hemisphere (p=.04) showed a group by time interaction, indicating less age-related volume reduction and thinning in football compared to volleyball athletes. At the regional level, sport by time interactions on thickness and volume were identified in the left orbitofrontal (p=.001), superior temporal (p=.001), and postcentral regions (p<.001). Additional cortical thickness interactions were found in the left temporal pole (p=.003) and cuneus (p=.005). At the regional level, we also found main effects of sport in football athletes characterized by reduced volume in the right hippocampus (p=.003), right superior parietal cortical gray (p<.001) and white matter (p<.001), and increased volume of the left pallidum (p=.002). Within football, cortical thickness was higher with greater years of prior play (left hemisphere p=.013, right hemisphere p=.005), and any history of concussion was associated with less cortical thinning (left hemisphere p=.010, right hemisphere p=.011). Additionally, both position-associated concussion risk (p=.002) and SCAT scores (p=.023) were associated with less of the expected volume decrement of deep gray structures. This prospective longitudinal study comparing football and volleyball athletes shows divergent age-related trajectories of cortical thinning, possibly reflecting an impact-related alteration of normal cortical development. This warrants future research into the underlying mechanisms of impacts to the head on cortical maturation.<br><br>Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1053-8119
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116864
ID  - ref1
ER  -