Head Impact Exposure, Gray Matter Volume, and Moderating Effects of Estimated Intelligence Quotient and Educational Attainment in Former Athletes at Midlife.

ABSTRACT: Repetitive head impact (RHI) exposure has been associated with differences in brain structure among younger active athletes, most often within the hippocampus. Studies of former athletes at early-midlife are limited. We investigated the association between RHI exposure and gray matter (GM) structure, as well as moderating factors, among former athletes in early-midlife. Former collegiate football players (n = 55; age = 37.9 + 1.5 years) completed magnetic resonance imaging to quantify GM morphometry and extensive structured interviews of RHI history (Head Impact Exposure Estimate). Linear regression models tested the association between RHI exposure and GM structures of interest. Interactions were tested for moderators: two estimates of intelligence quotient (IQ) (single word

SUBMITTER: Brett BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8978573 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature