The acute neuropsychological effects of heading in soccer: A pilot study

Objective: The main objective of this study was to prospectively examine th e acute effects of heading in soccer on cognitive function. Design: This was a prospective cross-over study using a brief neuropsycholo gical battery to assess cognitive function. The tests were performed before and after two separate practice sessions, with athletes serving as their o wn controls. Setting: Male and female Division I college athletes. Participants: Members of the men's and women's varsity collegiate Penn Stat e University soccer teams. Forty-four males and 56 females entered and fini shed the study. All athletes had a normal physical examination. Interventions: Before and after both practice sessions, all athletes had a brief battery of neuropsychological tests and a symptom checklist. Main Outcome Measures: Neuropsychological tests symptom checklist compared at baseline with those after the practice sessions. Results: There were no significant differences in pretest scores between gr oups and no difference on posttest scores between heading and nonheading gr oups. A significant difference was detected using MANOVA (p = < 0.001) betw een pre- and posttest scores for measures of attention and concentration, i ndicating a practice effect. A gender-specific effect in one test measuring attention and concentration was found. There was no difference in symptoms before and after heading as compared with exertional controls. Conclusions: In this study, soccer players heading the ball does not appear to lead to acute changes in cognitive function as assessed by a brief neur opsychological battery. There are practice effects that occur with repetiti ve neuropsychological testing and gender differences with certain tests.