Brain Resiliency: When Boxers Retire, Cognition and Memory Improve
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Boxers and mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters can recover cognitive and memory skills after they retire from fighting, results of a longitudinal study show. Repeated insults to the brain from boxing and other contact sports increase the risk for multiple neurologic conditions, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), cognitive and behavior problems, and parkinsonism. For boxers and MMA fighters, it's unclear whether cognitive changes will progress, remain stable, or recover when they transition from active to inactive fighting status at a relatively young age.
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@kuheli The researchers also used MRI to measure brain thickness in 68 regions of the areas of the brain that control emotion, memory, and executive function. Fifty-four regions had consistently changing trajectory, with thickness measures stabilizing in retired fighters and subtly declining over time in active fighters.