Abstract
Repetitive head impact (RHI) exposure in collision sports may contribute to adverse neurological outcomes in former players. In contrast to a concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury, “subconcussive” RHIs represent a more frequent and asymptomatic form of exposure. The neural network-level signatures characterizing subconcussive RHIs in youth collision-sport cohorts such as American Football are not known. Here, we used resting-state functional MRI to examine default mode network (DMN) functional connectivity (FC) following a single football season in youth players (n = 50, ages 8–14) without concussion. Football players demonstrated reduced FC across widespread DMN regions compared with non-collision sport controls at postseason but not preseason. In a subsample from the original cohort (n = 17), players revealed a negative change in FC between preseason and postseason and a positive and compensatory change in FC during the offseason across the majority of DMN regions. Lastly, significant FC changes, including between preseason and postseason and between in- and off-season, were specific to players at the upper end of the head impact frequency distribution. These findings represent initial evidence of network-level FC abnormalities following repetitive, non-concussive RHIs in youth football. Furthermore, the number of subconcussive RHIs proved to be a key factor influencing DMN FC.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2529-2545 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Human Brain Mapping |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2021 |
Keywords
- concussion
- connectivity
- fMRI
- football
- subconcussion
- youth
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Anatomy
- Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology