Abnormal spontaneous brain fluctuations present in retired football players

Novel methods are required to understand the scale of potential brain changes in collision sport athletes. with many former athletes having developed neurocognitive deficits or neurological disorders. This study used resting state functional MRI (rsfMRI) to examine if retired professional football players (n=18) had functional brain abnormalities based on a personalized amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and Z-scoring approach. Brain injuries were identified if the ALFF Z-score exceeded 3 standard deviations from the healthy control mean. Thirty regions were abnormal in more than half of the retired athletes. Cerebellar and central, sub-cortical brain regions were most often seriously abnormal.