Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:10:35.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigating Cognitive Performance Deficits in Male and Female Soccer Players after a 4-week Heading- Training Programme: A Controlled Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2017

Petra Jansen  and
Jennifer Lehmann
Petra Jansen*
Affiliation:
Institute of Sport Science, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
Jennifer Lehmann
Affiliation:
Institute of Sport Science, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
*
Address for correspondence: Prof. Dr. Petra Jansen, Institute of Sport Science, University of Regensburg, Universitystreet 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This experimental study with a controlled pre-test and post-test group design investigated the possible effects of four sessions of heading training on cognitive performance. A total of 118 participants (mean age of 22.25 years) were assigned to one of the three following groups: a heading-training group, a passing-training group and a waiting control group. The participants completed a cognitive test battery of attention (D2-test), working memory (Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task, PASAT-2) and visual spatial intelligence (Mental Rotation Test) tests before, immediately after the second training session and one week after the fourth training session. There were no between-group differences in cognitive performance after the second or the fourth heading training sessions. However, within the heading-training group, women complained more of headaches than men after the fourth training session. These results build on the results from the study of Rieder and Jansen (2011) that showed no neuropsychological consequences after one heading session, showing no cumulative effects of repeat heading.

Keywords

soccerheadingcognitive impairmentsex effectheadacheconcussionmild traumatic brain injury
Type
Articles
Information
Brain Impairment , Volume 19 , Special Issue 2: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury , September 2018 , pp. 133 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brickenkamp, R. (2002). Test d2 – Aufmerksamkeits-belastungs-test. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Colvin, A.C., Mullen, J., Lovell, M.R., West, R.V., Collins, M.W., & Groh, M. (2009). The role of concussion history and gender recovery from soccer-related concussion. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 37, 1699–1704.Google Scholar
Covassin, T., & Elbin, R.J. (2011). The female athlete: The role of gender in the assessment and management of sport-related concussion. Clinical Sports Medicine, 20, 125–131.Google Scholar
Covassin, T., Swanik, C.B., & Sacks, M.L. (2003). Sex differences and the incidence of concussions among collegiate athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 38, 238–244.Google Scholar
Dezman, Z.D.W., Ledet, E.H., & Kerr, H.A. (2014). Neck strength imbalance correlates with increased head acceleration in soccer heading. Sports Health, 5, 320–326.Google Scholar
Dick, R.W. (2009). Is there a gender difference in concussion incidence and outcomes? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 43 (Suppl. 1), 46–50.Google Scholar
Dorminy, M., Hoogeveen, A, Tierney, R.T, Higgins, M, McDevitt, J.K, & Kretzschmar, J. (2015). Effect of soccer heading ball speed on S100B, sideline concussion assessments and head impact kinematics. Brain Injury, 25, 1–7.Google Scholar
Dvorak, J., & Junge, A. (2000). Football injuries and physical symptoms. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 28, 3–9.Google Scholar
Elbin, R.J., Beatty, A., Covassion, T., Schatz, P., Hydeman, A., & Kontos, A.P. (2015). A preliminary examination of neurocognitive performance and symptoms following a bout of soccer heading in athletes wearing protective soccer headbands. Research in Sports Medicine: An International Journal, 23, 203–214.Google Scholar
Gronwall, D. (1977). Paced auditory serial-addition task: A measure of recovery from concussion. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 44, 367–373.Google Scholar
Katis, A., Kellis, E., & Lees, A. (2015). Age and gender differences in kinematics of powerful instep kicks in soccer. Sports Biomechanis, 3, 287–299.Google Scholar
Koerte, I.K., Ertl-Wagner, B., Reiser, M., Zafonte, R., & Shenton, M.E. (2012). White matter integrity in the brains of professional soccer players without a symptomatic concussion. Journal of the American Medical Association, 308, 1859–1861.Google Scholar
Koerte, I.K., Mayinger, M., Muehlmann, M., Kaufmann, D., Lin, A. P., Steffinger, D., . . . & Heinen, F. R. (2016). Cortical thinning in former professional soccer players. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1–7 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26286826.Google Scholar
Lephart, S.M., Ferris, C.M., Riemann, B.L., Myers, J.B., & Fu, F.H. (2002). Gender differences in strength and lower extremity kinematics during landing. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related research, 401, 162–169.Google Scholar
Lipton, M.L., Namhee, K., Zimmerman, M.E., Kim, M., Stewart, W., Branch, C.Q. & Lipton, R.B. (2013). Soccer heading is associated with white matter microstructural and cognitive abnormalities. Radiology, 268, 850–857.Google Scholar
Maher, M.E., Hutchinson, M., Cusimano, M., Comper, P., & Schweizer, T.A. (2014). Concussions and heading in soccer: A review of the evidence of incidence, mechanisms, biomarkers and neurocognitive outcome. Brain Injury, 28, 271–285.Google Scholar
McCaffrey, R.J., Westervelt, H.J., & Haase, R. (2001). Serial neuropsychological assessment with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Aids Abbreviated Neuropsychological Battery. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 16, 9–18.Google Scholar
Oswald, W.D., & Roth, E. (1987). Der Zahlen-Verbindungs-test ZVT. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Peters, M., Chisholm, P., & Laeng, B. (1995). Spatial ability, student gender, and academic performance. Journal of Engineering Education, 84, 60–73.Google Scholar
Putukian, M., Echemendia, R.J., & Mackin, S. (2000). The acute neuropsychological effects of heading in soccer. A pilot study. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 10, 104–109.Google Scholar
Reitan, R.M. (1956). Trail making test. Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Rieder, C., & Jansen, P. (2011). No neuropsychological consequences in male and female soccer players after short heading training. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 26, 583–591.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, A.C., Lasmar, R.P., & Caramelli, P. (2016). Effects of soccer heading on brain structure and function. Frontiers in Neurology, 7, 38.Google Scholar
Rutherford, A., & Stephens, R. (2007). Does football heading impair cognitive function? In Briscoe, W.P. (Hrsg.), Focus on cognitive disorder research (pp. 181–226). Hauppauge NY: Nova Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Stamm, J.M., Bourlas, A.P., Baugh, C., Fritts, N.G., Daneshvar, D., Martin, B.M., . . . Stern, R.A. (2015). Age of first exposure to football and later-life cognitive impairment in former NFL players. Neurology, 84, 1114–1120.Google Scholar
Stamm, J.M., Koerte, I.K. et al. (2015). Age at first exposure to football is associated with altered corpus callosum white matter microstructure in former professional football players. Journal of Neurotrauma, 15, 1768–1776.Google Scholar
Stephens, R., Rutherford, A., Potter, D., & Fernie, G. (2010). Neuropsychological consequence of soccer play in adolescent U.K. school team soccer players. Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 22, 295–303.Google Scholar
Talavage, T., Nauman, E.A., Breedlove, E.L., York, U., Dye, A., Morigaki, K., . . . Leverenz, L.J. (2014). Functionally-detected cognitive impairment in high school football player without clinically-diagnosed concussion. Journal of Neurotrauma, 31, 327–338.Google Scholar
Vandenberg, S.G., & Kuse, A.R. (1978). Mental rotations, a group test of 3-dimensional spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 47, 599–604.Google Scholar
Witol, A.D., & Webbe, F.M. (2003). Soccer heading frequency predicts neuropsychological deficits. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 18, 397–417.Google Scholar