Heading a ball ‘causes instant brain damage’
Memory function down by nearly 70%
HEADING a football has instant effects on a player’s brain function and can slash memory performance by nearly 70 per cent, according to a new study.
The impact can cause changes that last for 24 hours.
A study by the University of Stirling detected ‘small but significant changes in brain function’ after players were exposed to routine heading practice.
Researchers fired footballs from a machine that simulates the pace and power of aw corner kick and asked 19 footballers to head a ball 20 times.
Brain function and memory were tested before and after.
Memory performance was reduced by between 41 per cent and 67 per cent, with the effects wearing off after 24 hours.
Cognitive neuroscientist Dr Magdalena Ietswaart, from the university’s Department of Psychology, said: ‘In light of growing concern about the effects of contact sport on brain health, we wanted to see if our brain reacts instantly to heading a football.
‘With large numbers of people around the world participating in this sport, it is important that they are aware of what is happening inside the brain and the lasting effect this may have.’
The findings come amid growing concerns that players can develop dementia from repeated head impacts.
Hundreds of former professional footballers have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in later life and campaigners have called for the game to tackle the issue of head injuries.
Last night, Gordon Smith, former Scottish Football Association chief executive, said Scotland should think about a ban on youngsters heading the ball, similar to rules in America.
He said: ‘I do consider that it should be looked at for young players below a certain age. For youngsters these days the ball is often in the air because they play smallersided games.
‘We should try and discourage it from certain age groups to make sure there isn’t any later effects on little kids.’
The study, published in the medical journal EBioMedicine, is the first to detect direct changes in the brain after players were exposed to everyday head impacts, as opposed to clinical brain injuries such as concussion. Whether the changes to the brain remain temporary and the long-term consequences on brain health are yet to be investigated.
Dr Ietswaart said: ‘Using a drill amateur and professional teams would be familiar with, we found there was increased inhibition in the brain immediately after heading and that performance on memory tests was reduced significantly.
‘Although the changes were temporary, they are significant to brain health, particularly if they happen over and over again.’
Celtic players Billy McPhail and Jock Weir died in 2003 and their families blamed their dementia on contact with heavy leather footballs during their careers.
McPhail failed in a legal bid to prove he suffered pre-senile dementia as an industrial injury. He devel-
‘Performance reduced’
oped Alzheimer’s, which he blamed on heading the ball.
Dundee United defender Frank Kopel had vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed in 2009 and he died in 2014 at 65.
A coroner in England ruled the cause of death of ex-England and West Brom striker Jeff Astle was ‘industrial disease’ caused by headings. He died in 2002 at 59 after suffering early onset dementia.
An exam of his brain found he was suffering from neuro-degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which can be established only after death.
In May, the Football Association said it would lead a study into possible links between football and brain diseases.