Another Study Links Heading in Soccer to Brain Damage

Posted on July 7, 2013

A new study published in the journal, Radiology, has found that the brain scans of people who frequently head the ball in soccer are similar to those who have suffered traumatic head injuries. Heading is often used in professional soccer. There was even a famous head-butt during the World Cup of a player heat-butting another player. 37 soccer players underwent diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging in the study.

Dr. Michael Lipton says changes to the brain were seen in players making a range between 885 to 1,500 headers a year. Memory scores were impacted in players with headers of over 1,800 a year. Take a look: