A new study reveals that heading the ball during football matches may cause damage to the brain.
MRI brain scans of male and female football athletes show that this action can harm parts of the brain already associated with weakened neural connections, such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Dr. Michael Lipton, a professor of radiology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the senior author of the study, stated that the effects of repeatedly heading the ball in sports are far more severe than previously known.
He explained that this action raises concerns about the negative effects on the brain. Dr. Lipton and his colleagues will present their findings next week at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago.
