Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Heading a ball 'injures the brain'

Wednesday 27 February 2013 23:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Heading a ball may damage footballers' brains, research shows.

A study has found evidence of mental impairment caused by the action. Scientists say the effects suggest "mild traumatic brain injury of the frontal lobes".

Dr Anne Sereno, from the University of Texas, and colleagues wrote in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE: "To our knowledge, these results provide the first evidence that even sub-concussive blows in football could lead to measurable, even if possibly transient, cognitive changes in young football players."

Increased time spent playing the sport each week had a significant effect on response time, while the number of years in the sport only had a marginal effect.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in