It’s not just concussions

A 2019 study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Rochester Medical Center gave those who participate in contact sports a new concern — routine knocks to the head may be doing more damage than the big hits we see highlighted on television.

Researchers put accelerometers — devices that measure accelerative force — in the helmets of University of Rochester football players for every practice and game. Additionally, the players' brains were scanned in an MRI machine before and after a season of play.

Just two players sustained concussions during the study, but the comparison of the post- and pre-season MRIs showed more than two-thirds of the players experienced a decrease in the structural integrity of their brain over the season.

"Public perception is that the big hits are the only ones that matter. It's what people talk about and what we often see being replayed on TV," said senior study author Brad Mahon, now professor of psychology at CMU’s Dietrich College and then scientific director of the Program for Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester. "The big hits are definitely bad, but with the focus on the big hits, the public is missing what's likely causing the long-term damage in players' brains. It's not just the concussions. It's everyday hits, too."