The impact of concussion while playing sport is different in those who don't play professionally, says new research.
Sports-related concussions (SRC) may not be associated with long-term cognitive risks for non-professional athletes, a study led by a UNSW medical researcher suggests. In fact, study participants who had experienced an SRC had better cognitive performance in some areas than those who had never suffered a concussion, pointing to potential protective effects of sports participation.
Published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (JNNP), the research reveals that individuals who reported experiencing any SRC during their lifetime had a marginally better cognitive performance than those who reported no concussions.
The study, a collaboration between researchers at UNSW Sydney, the University of Oxford, the University of Exeter and Harvard University, analysed data from more than 15,000 participants from the UK-based PROTECT study of 50- to 90-year-olds. This ongoing research aims to understand brain ageing and cognitive decline.
"Our findings suggest that there is something about playing sport, even though a person may experience concussion, that may be beneficial for long-term cognitive outcomes," says Dr Matt Lennon MD, PhD, a researcher at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at UNSW Medicine & Health and lead author of the study.
"While it may be that those who play sports have had access to better education and more resources, we controlled for these factors in the analysis, so that doesn't explain the result. We hypothesise that there may be physical, social and long-term behavioural effects of sport that may make for healthier adults in late-life," said Dr Lennon.
