A recent study of college aged soccer players has shown them to have small amounts of brain tissue shrinkage. For those of us who are soccer moms and have avid soccer players in our homes, this is not the best news. The study used MRI's to scan a group of 20 college males, 10 of whom were soccer players and 10 who had never before picked up a soccer ball.

The researchers have yet to determine the specific significance of the gray matter shrinkage other than to report that the findings are compatible with previous studies showing that college age and professional soccer players have displayed symptoms of memory loss and attention span issues. The area of tissue shrinkage in the participants of the study was the anterior temporal cortex, or the area where soccer players make contact when heading a ball.

This should be an interesting study to follow over the next few years. For those of us who are soccer moms, a head trauma is always a scary possibility. Most of our kids will not go on to play college soccer and even fewer will become professional soccer players, but it is a good rule of thumb to monitor any and all head injuries in the game.