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. 2012 Nov 14;308(18):1859-61.
doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.13735.

White matter integrity in the brains of professional soccer players without a symptomatic concussion

Inga K Koerte, Birgit Ertl-Wagner, Maximilian Reiser, Ross Zafonte, Martha E Shenton

White matter integrity in the brains of professional soccer players without a symptomatic concussion

Inga K Koerte et al. JAMA. .
No abstract available

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Results of the Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) Analysis
The diffusion tensor for each voxel was estimated by the multivariate linear fitting algorithm, and the tensor matrix was diagonalized to obtain 3 pairs of eigenvalues (λ1, λ2, λ3) and eigenvectors. Voxelwise summary parameters included fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity ([λ2 + λ3]/2), axial diffusivity (A1), and mean diffusivity (λ1 + λ2 + λ3). Group analyses were performed using whole-brain TBSS for the following measures of diffusivity: fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity. For all analyses, threshold-free cluster enhancement was used to obtain significant differences between groups at P < .05. After accounting for multiple comparisons using the family-wise error rate, the voxels highlighted in red demonstrate significantly increased radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity values for the soccer group compared with swimmers.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Diffusivity Measures for Each Individual
Voxels with a significant group difference as revealed by Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (Figure 1) were merged to a single cluster. Circles indicate individual values, squares indicate mean values, and error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. Diffusivity measures were obtained for each individual and plotted for the 2 study groups. Linear regression showed no significant association of age or years of training with radial diffusivity (P = .13 and P = .12, respectively) or for axial diffusivity values (P = .22 and P = .54, respectively).
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