ArticleCommunications medicine2025
Changes in peripheral blood and cognitive performance after nonconcussive head impacts in elite female soccer players.
Article in Communications medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Risk of Cognitive Decline in Professional Soccer Players after Repetitive Subconcussive Impacts: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Neurologia medico-chirurgica · 2026Pooled it
- Non-concussive impacts, cognition, and the menstrual cycle: a proof-of-concept study of elite female footballers.Experimental brain research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI) has been shown to be associated with cognitive impairment and markers of neurodegeneration in professional male soccer players. However, data on the effects of RHI in female players are very limited. In this exploratory study, we investigated changes in blood biomarkers along with the cognitive status of elite female soccer players and compared the effect of RHI with outcomes in male players.
methodsIn a cohort study, elite female soccer players (age 16-41 years) performed training without heading the ball (n = 36) and training including heading (n = 30). Athletes were evaluated for the parameters of physical activity (heart rate) and neuropsychological testing (focused attention and cognitive flexibility) before and 1 h after each training. The levels of plasma tau, pTau
resultsThe levels of tau, pTau
conclusionsRHIs may lead to acute disbalance of tau and phosphorylated tau in plasma, and are associated with short-term decline in cognitive performance and neuroprotective pathways in elite female soccer players. The sexual dimorphism in response to RHI may reflect biological risk factors potentially relevant to the different degree of susceptibility to neurological disorders in females and males in later life.
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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.