Sports Have Cognitive Benefits Despite Concussion Risks
There has been a lot of attention focused on head injuries in sports in recent years. Many former professional sportspeople have taken legal action against sporting authorities, saying they weren't protected well enough from brain injuries.
However, new research has suggested that, for amateur sportspeople, the risks of head injuries may be outweighed by the cognitive benefits of playing sports.
Researchers from Australia, the UK and the US found that concussions in amateur sports were not linked to long-term cognitive impairment.
These results were surprising for many — and, in fact, many former professional sportspeople have been busy explaining that the opposite has been true for them.
To get their findings, the research team looked at data from more than 15,000 people in the UK aged between 50 and 90.
They were all asked about their history of concussions, and whether or not they happened while playing sports.
After a follow-up period of up to four years, the cognitive performance of the participants was assessed.
The study found that people who had suffered sports-related concussions actually had slightly better cognitive performance than those who had experienced no concussions.
That doesn't mean it's healthy to suffer head injuries, the researchers said. However, one of the authors, Vanessa Raymont from the University of Oxford, said: "This study suggests that there could be long-term benefits from sport which could outweigh any negative effects of concussions."
People who had suffered one sports-related concussion did better when their verbal reasoning and attention were assessed, compared to people with no history of sports-related concussions.
Meanwhile, those with three or more concussions that were not related to sports had much worse processing speed and attention levels.
Raymont said it may be that concussions not related to sports are more serious, such as head injuries experienced in accidents.
The researchers also said that professional sports are more dangerous because concussions happen more often and may be more severe.
However, some experts said more research is still needed to explore the health risks of children playing contact sports.
