A study reveals that the white matter in the brains of female soccer players have more alterations due to the impact of the ball against the head than those of male players. The study, was conducted by researchers at the Albert Einstein Institute of Medicine in New York and has been published in the journal of Radiology.
The 49 men and 49 women soccer players of ages between 18 and 50 who participated in the study had magnetic resonance imaging of their brain done. Next, the results of the players’ tests were compared with those of the players taking into account their ages and the frequency with which they tended to hit the ball with their head.
Michael Lipton, the neurosurgeon who has led the research, explains that the substance or white matter of the brain works in an analogous way to that of a fiber optic cable which connects the different parts of a computer, similarly, white matter is responsible for connecting the neurons in the brain. Hitting the ball with the head causes the network of ‘cables’ to become disordered.”Our study provides preliminary support to the notion that women are more sensitive to repetitive subconcussive head impacts,” he explained, adding that it was not about analyzing concussions, but ” measure subconcussive injuries “or repetitive impacts that do not cause any problem to the player immediately, but in the long term.