As a result of prolonged boxing and other martial arts, some areas of the brain decrease in volume, which is accompanied by a deterioration in mental abilities..

These are the results of a 5-year study in which 224 athletes participated..

Particularly alarming is the fact that, along with the “shrinking” of brain areas, which is confirmed by MRI, the speed of information processing in athletes is noticeably reduced compared to the control group that does not play sports..

Participants in the latest study were recruited from the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study, a long-term cohort study of professional martial artists.. The study was sponsored by the Low Ruvo Center for Brain Health at the Cleveland Clinic (Las Vegas, Nevada).

The results of a study published in the online edition of the British Journal of Sports Medicine show that professional martial arts even in 4-5 years have time to negatively affect the state of the brain. The examined athletes were from 18 to 44 years old, all of them had professional licenses in martial arts, many were participants in national and international championships.

At the very beginning of the study, and then every year, all participants underwent:.

• Magnetic resonance imaging to assess brain volume.

•Tests of verbal memory, processing speed, motor skills and reaction time Researchers have developed a way to assess the career of each fighter in points, which depends on the duration and intensity of training. They called it " This indicator (FES) ranged from 0 to 4, and was determined by the number of fights in a career, the average number of professional fights per year, the intensity of training.

Scientists have found that athletes with a high FES score (3-4) are characterized by a noticeable decrease in brain volume in certain areas, as well as a relatively low ability to process information..

A large number of blows to the head, which was analyzed according to the history of battles, is associated with a decrease in the volume of the thalamus and caudal cortex, as well as with a decrease in the speed of information processing..

Here are some quantitative results of the study:.

For each additional FES score… •The volume of the brain in both areas decreases by an average of 0.8%.

•Information processing speed drops by 2.1%, which corresponds to 0.19% per pro fight Fighters with a FES score of 4 process information 8.8% slower than those with a FES score of zero.

Accumulating brain damage.

Dr. Charles Bernick, director of the Low Ruvo Center, says the thalamus acts as an entry gate to the cerebral cortex, and it can influence a wide range of neurological functions.. Accumulating damage over time can impair brain performance, Bernick says, but it's hard to spot the damage right away..

“The most characteristic violation with a decrease in the volume of this area is a decrease in the speed of information processing, which can be detected during tests. But keep in mind that we studied young active people, so they may not notice some slowdown in everyday life..

Scientists believe that doctors need to monitor the state of the most vulnerable areas of the brain in athletes involved in contact sports.

Boxing is more dangerous than other martial arts.

This is unlikely to surprise anyone, because in boxing most often they receive blows to the head.. This is most likely why the participants in the study, who had been boxing for many years, had the worst cognitive performance and the most pronounced “shrinkage” of scanned brain areas..

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Why is the thalamus most affected Scientists believe that this area is most vulnerable due to the sharp rotational movements of the head as a result of strong blows, which are often repeated over many years of a career..

Dr.

Bernick backs more monitoring of boxers. He believes that their simple FES measure will be used in the future to assess the risk of brain damage in professional athletes..

“I know that sports organizations and licensed fighters are very interested in introducing new tools to identify athletes who have problems. The information we use to calculate FES for each professional fighter is open and public. It is a simple and reliable tool,” writes Dr..

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