Retired NFL players with concussion symptoms showed worse cognitive function long after career, study finds

A new study has found that NFL players who experienced concussion symptoms during their years on field showed reduced cognitive function long after retiring.

Big hits may be par for the course in football, but the impact some players sustain from head injuries may follow them for years to come, new study finds.

A new study published Thursday in the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology has found that NFL players who experienced concussion symptoms during their years on field showed reduced cognitive function long after retiring.

"It is well-established that in the hours and days after a concussion, people experience some cognitive impairment. However, when you look decades out, the data on the long-term impact have been mixed," said study senior author Laura Germine, director of the Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Health Technology at McLean Hospital and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, in a press release. "These new findings from the largest study of its kind show that professional football players can still experience cognitive difficulties associated with head injuries decades after they have retired from the sport."

Researchers assessed more than 350 former NFL players who were studied for an average of 29 years following their retirement from professional football, examining their cognitive functions such as episodic memory, sustained attention, processing speed and vocabulary.

To find out which players had experienced concussion symptoms while playing, the researchers asked them if they had experienced symptoms such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, memory problems, or visual problems.

Players were also asked to think back on their careers and report if they had ever lost consciousness while playing, and if they were diagnosed with a concussion by a medical professional at any point.

The results of these assessments showed that players who said they had experienced concussion symptoms during their career demonstrated worsened cognitive function overall.