title: A preliminary examination of neurocognitive performance and symptoms following a bout of soccer heading in athletes wearing protective soccer headbands.
abstract: This study compared changes in neurocognitive performance and symptom reports following an acute bout of soccer heading among athletes with and without protective soccer headgear. A total of 25 participants headed a soccer ball 15 times over a 15-minute period, using a proper linear heading technique. Participants in the experimental group completed the heading exercise while wearing a protective soccer headband and controls performed the heading exercise without wearing the soccer headband. Neurocognitive performance and symptom reports were assessed before and after the acute bout of heading. Participants wearing the headband showed significant decreases on verbal memory (p = 0.02) compared with the no headband group, while the no headband group demonstrated significantly faster reaction time (p = 0.03) than the headband group following the heading exercise. These findings suggest that protective soccer headgear likely does not mitigate the subtle neurocognitive effects of acute soccer heading.
authors: a University of Arkansas , Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation/Office for Sport Concussion Research , Fayetteville , Arkansas , USA.
authors: R J
authors: RJ
authors: Elbin
authors: Amanda
authors: A
authors: Beatty
authors: Tracey
authors: T
authors: Covassin
authors: Philip
authors: P
authors: Schatz
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Hydeman
authors: Anthony P
authors: AP
authors: Kontos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011930:Reaction Time; D012916:Soccer / Q000293:injuries*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: neurocognitive performance; soccer headgear; soccer heading