DATA presented at AAIC 2026 showed that former elite soccer players had higher rates of depression and anxiety and lower grey matter volume than healthy controls in mid-life, despite no significant differences on objective cognitive testing, raising new questions about long-term brain health in the sport.
Soccer Players Face Uncertain Long-Term Brain Health Risks
Former elite soccer players are known to be at increased risk of neurodegenerative disease, but detailed brain imaging studies in this population remain limited. The research forms part of the Advanced BRAIN Health Clinic Research Programme at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health, which investigates the long-term effects of repetitive head impacts in retired elite footballers and rugby players. Researchers hypothesised that mid-life former soccer players would show measurable differences in symptoms, cognition and brain structure compared with matched controls.
Comparing Brain Health in Players and Matched Controls
Researchers compared 142 former elite soccer players, aged 30 to 60 years, with 56 healthy controls. The player group included 126 men who had held a full-time professional contract for at least three years, and 16 women who had competed in the top two tiers of the UK women’s professional game. Controls had no history of contact sports, military service or head injury. All participants completed validated symptom questionnaires and standardised neuropsychological testing, while structural MRI was analysed using voxel-based morphometry to assess regional brain volume, with comparisons adjusted for age, sex, education, premorbid intelligence and total intracranial volume as appropriate.
Higher Symptom Burden and Lower Grey Matter Volume
Former players reported significantly higher symptom burden than controls across several domains. Nearly one-third of former players (31%) scored in the range indicating clinically significant depression, compared with 9% of controls, while 42% scored in the range indicating clinically significant anxiety, compared with 25% of controls. Brain imaging of 124 former players showed lower grey matter volume in the frontal, cingulate and thalamic regions compared with controls, and clinical review by a neuroradiologist found clinically significant atrophy suggestive of neurodegeneration in around 2% of scans.
Long-Term Monitoring
The combination of elevated symptoms and altered brain volume patterns may suggest trauma-related neurodegeneration, and the researchers concluded that the findings support the need for longitudinal monitoring and further study of neurodegenerative disease risk in former soccer players.
Reference
Lynch CG et al. Mid-life brain health in former elite soccer players. Presentation. AAIC, 12-15 July, 2026.
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