Playing Football Before Age 12 May Pose Later Life Brain Issues

Retired NFL players who played tackle football as youngsters are more likely to have cognitive problems later in life according to a new study, findings that a New York neurologist says raise important issues for youth sports.

“This is going to make people more aware of head injuries and question if they want their children to participate in football,” said Paul Wright, MD, chairman of neurology at North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center.

For the study, researchers at Boston University gave 42 ex-NFL players (ages 40-69) a series of neuropsychological tests that looked at memory and comprehension. All participants had experienced some sort of cognitive problems for at least six months.

They found that the gridiron greats who played football before age 12 “performed significantly worse” than those who started playing after age 12.

According to the researchers, a critical stage of neurodevelopmental processes occurs between ages 10 and 12.

“During this time the brain is developing,” said Dr. Wright. “With repetitive head injuries we’re getting a jolting of the brain. If that occurs in a repetitive manner, then we can postulate that it can impair development and even impair cognition down the line.”

Although the findings suggest that incurring repeated head impacts at a young age may increase the risk of later-life cognitive impairment, Dr. Wright said further testing with a larger study population is needed.

Results of the study were published in the journal Neurology.