Immediate effects of an acute bout of repeated soccer heading on cognitive performance

ABSTRACT

Purpose: There isgrowing concern surrounding the harmful effects of soccer heading on cognitive function. The present study aims to examine the immediate effects of heading.

Methods: 30 recreational male soccer players were divided into three groups that undertook 20 consecutive headers with a soft (8.8 psi), hard (16.2 psi), or no (control) ball. A battery of neuropsychological tests was completed before and after heading: King-Devick, trail-making (TM) (A, B), digit span (DS) and spatial span (SS) (forward, backward).

Results: Significant increase in the time (M = 4.44 s) and errors (M = 1.45) for the King-Devick test within the hard and soft groups, although there was no significant difference for TM-A and TM-B. Significant decline for SS forward within the hard and soft groups (M= −16%), although the declines for SS backward (M = −16%), DS forward (M= −23%) and DS backward (M = −25%) were present only for the hard group (ps <.05).

Discussion: While outside of regular match-play, this study showed that heading negatively influenced one indicator of a suspected concussion (King-Devick), as well as working memory (DS, SS) that is essential for daily life. These findings contribute to the growing debate surrounding heading safety.

KEYWORDS:

• Head impact
• concussion
• cognitive function
• working memory

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest involved with the present study and received no external funding.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that the study was not supported by any funding.