Age at First Exposure to Tackle Football is Associated with Cortical Thickness in Former Professional American Football Players.

Mar 8, 2021

Contributor: David Kaufmann,Nico Sollmann,Elisabeth Kaufmann,Rosanna Veggeberg,Yorghos Tripodis,Pawel P Wrobel,Janna Kochsiek,Brett M Martin,Alexander P Lin,Michael J Coleman,Michael L Alosco,Ofer Pasternak,Sylvain Bouix,Robert A Stern,Martha E Shenton,Inga K Koerte

Age at First Exposure to Tackle Football is Associated with Cortical Thickness in Former Professional American Football Players.

Younger age at first exposure (AFE) to repetitive head impacts while playing American football increases the risk for later-life neuropsychological symptoms and brain alterations. However, it is not known whether AFE is associated with cortical thickness in American football players. Sixty-three former professional National Football League players (55.5 ± 7.7 years) with cognitive, behavioral, and mood symptoms underwent neuroimaging and neuropsychological testing. First, the association between cortical thickness and AFE was tested. Second, the relationship between clusters of decreased cortical thickness and verbal and visual memory, and composite measures of mood/behavior and attention/psychomotor speed was assessed. AFE was positively correlated with cortical thickness in the right superior frontal cortex (cluster-wise P value [CWP] = 0.0006), the left parietal cortex (CWP = 0.0003), and the occipital cortices (right: CWP = 0.0023; left: CWP = 0.0008). A positive correlation was found between cortical thickness of the right superior frontal cortex and verbal memory (R = 0.333, P = 0.019), and the right occipital cortex and visual memory (R = 0.360, P = 0.012). In conclusion, our results suggest an association between younger AFE and decreased cortical thickness, which in turn is associated with worse neuropsychological performance. Furthermore, an association between younger AFE and signs of neurodegeneration later in life in symptomatic former American football players seems likely.
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About The Expert

David Kaufmann

cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80337 Munich, Germany.

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Department of Radiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.

Nico Sollmann

cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80337 Munich, Germany.

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 Munich, Germany.

TUM-Neuroimaging Center, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 Munich, Germany.

Elisabeth Kaufmann

cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80337 Munich, Germany.

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Department of Neurology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.

Rosanna Veggeberg

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Yorghos Tripodis

Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Pawel P Wrobel

cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80337 Munich, Germany.

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Janna Kochsiek

cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80337 Munich, Germany.

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Brett M Martin

Data Coordinating Center, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Alexander P Lin

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Center for Clinical Spectroscopy, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Michael J Coleman

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Michael L Alosco

Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Ofer Pasternak

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Sylvain Bouix

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Robert A Stern

Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA.

Martha E Shenton

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Division, Brockton, MA 02301, USA.

Inga K Koerte

cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80337 Munich, Germany.

Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 82152 Munich, Germany.

References

PubMed