ArticleAJNR. American journal of neuroradiology2018
White Matter Changes Related to Subconcussive Impact Frequency during a Single Season of High School Football.
Article in AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diffusion Imaging of Sport-related Repetitive Head Impacts-A Systematic Review.Neuropsychology review · 2023Pooled it
- The accumulation of subconcussive impacts on cognitive, imaging, and biomarker outcomes in child and college-aged athletes: a systematic review.Brain imaging and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- Association between downhill mountain bike racing and neurophysiological indices of sensory, attentional and cognitive processing in youth athletes.JSAMS plus · 2026Article
- Brain Health in Former Professional Motorsport Drivers: Case Series in a Population Exposed to Sport-Related Concussions and Repetitive Head Impacts.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
- Effects of One Season of Rugby on the Neurological Integrity of Male Adolescent Players.Sports medicine - open · 2026Article
- Neurophysiology of Downhill Mountain Bike Athletes-Benchmark Assessments of Event-Related Potentials.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- American Football On-Field Head Impact Kinematics: Influence of Acceleration Signal Characteristics on Peak Maximal Principal Strain.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2024Article
- Association of Vascular Risk Factors and CSF and Imaging Biomarkers With White Matter Hyperintensities in Former American Football Players.Neurology · 2024Article
- Microstructural Alterations in Tract Development in College Football and Volleyball Players: A Longitudinal Diffusion MRI Study.Neurology · 2023Article
- Leveraging football accelerometer data to quantify associations between repetitive head impacts and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in males.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Characterization of Head Acceleration Exposure During Youth Football Practice Drills.Journal of applied biomechanics · 2023Article
- Longitudinal, prospective study of head impacts in male high school football players.PloS one · 2023Article
- Decreased myelin proteins in brain donors exposed to football-related repetitive head impacts.Brain communications · 2023Article
- Subconcussive changes in youth football players: objective evidence using brain vital signs and instrumented accelerometers.Brain communications · 2022Article
- Effects of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaoic acid supplementation on white matter integrity after repetitive sub-concussive head impacts during American football: Exploratory neuroimaging findings from a pilot RCT.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Regional White Matter Diffusion Changes Associated with the Cumulative Tensile Strain and Strain Rate in Nonconcussed Youth Football Players.Journal of neurotrauma · 2021Article
- The effect of omega-3 fatty acids on a biomarker of head trauma in NCAA football athletes: a multi-site, non-randomized study.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2021Article
- Association between white matter organization and cognitive performance in athletes with a history of sport-related concussion.Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology · 2021Article
- Development of brain atlases for early-to-middle adolescent collision-sport athletes.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Association of Head Impact Exposure with White Matter Macrostructure and Microstructure Metrics.Journal of neurotrauma · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedErratum.2019
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
background and purposeThe effect of exposing the developing brain of a high school football player to subconcussive impacts during a single season is unknown. The purpose of this pilot study was to use diffusion tensor imaging to assess white matter changes during a single high school football season, and to correlate these changes with impacts measured by helmet accelerometer data and neurocognitive test scores collected during the same period. MATERIALS AND
methodsSeventeen male athletes (mean age, 16 ± 0.73 years) underwent MR imaging before and after the season. Changes in fractional anisotropy across the white matter skeleton were assessed with Tract-Based Spatial Statistics and ROI analysis.
resultsThe mean number of impacts over a 10-g threshold sustained was 414 ± 291. Voxelwise analysis failed to show significant changes in fractional anisotropy across the season or a correlation with impact frequency, after correcting for multiple comparisons. ROI analysis showed significant (
conclusionsOur findings suggest that subclinical neurotrauma related to participation in American football may result in white matter injury and that alterations in white matter tracts within the limbic system may be detectable after only 1 season of play at the high school level.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.