White Matter Changes and Confrontation Naming in Retired Aging National Football League Athletes

J Neurotrauma. 2017 Jan 15;34(2):372-379. doi: 10.1089/neu.2016.4446. Epub 2016 Jul 6.

Abstract

Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we assessed the relationship of white matter integrity and performance on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) in a group of retired professional football players and a control group. We examined correlations between fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) with BNT T-scores in an unbiased voxelwise analysis processed with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). We also analyzed the DTI data by grouping voxels together as white matter tracts and testing each tract's association with BNT T-scores. Significant voxelwise correlations between FA and BNT performance were only seen in the retired football players (p < 0.02). Two tracts had mean FA values that significantly correlated with BNT performance: forceps minor and forceps major. White matter integrity is important for distributed cognitive processes, and disruption correlates with diminished performance in athletes exposed to concussive and subconcussive brain injuries, but not in controls without such exposure.

Keywords: DTI; National Football League; TBSS; concussion; naming; white matter.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aging / pathology
  • Aging / psychology*
  • Anisotropy
  • Athletes / psychology
  • Brain Concussion / diagnostic imaging*
  • Brain Concussion / psychology
  • Cohort Studies
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging / trends
  • Football / injuries*
  • Humans
  • Language Tests*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Retirement / trends*
  • White Matter / diagnostic imaging*