Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Cortical thickness and subcortical brain volumes in professional rugby league players.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine cortical thickness and subcortical volumes in professional rugby players with an extensive history of concussions compared to control subjects.

Method: Participants included 24 active and former professional rugby league players [Age M(SD) = 33.3(6.3); Range = 21-44] with an extensive history of concussion and 18 age- and education-matched controls with no history of neurotrauma or participation in contact sports. Participants underwent T1-weighted imaging and completed a neuropsychological battery, including two tests of memory. Whole brain cortical thickness analysis and structural volume analysis was performed using FreeSurfer version 6.0.

Results: Professional rugby league players reported greater alcohol consumption ( p  < .001) and had significantly worse delayed recall of a visually complex design ( p  = .04). They did not differ from controls on other clinical outcome measures. There were no differences in cortical thickness between the groups. Professional players had smaller whole brain ( p  = .003), bilateral hippocampi ( p s = .03), and left amygdala volumes ( p  = .01) compared to healthy controls. Within the players group, there were significant associations between greater alcohol use and smaller bilateral hippocampi and left amygdala volumes. There were no associations between structural volumes and history of concussions or memory performance.

Conclusions: The literature examining cortical thickness in athletes with a history of multiple concussions is mixed. We did not observe differences in cortical thickness in professional rugby league players compared to controls. However, smaller subcortical volumes were found in players that were, in part, associated with greater alcohol consumption.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app