新奇事件簿 头球会对大脑造成损伤（在线收听）

New research suggests that soccer players are at risk of brain injury, especially those who head the ball a lot. Researchers in America carried out tests on 38 amateur football players over the age of 30 who had played the sport since childhood. Doctors gave them MRI brain scans and tests to assess their brain function. The players were asked to estimate the number of times they had headed a ball in the past year. The research findings indicate a degree of brain injury not usually present in people who do not play soccer. Doctors reported the condition to be a form of concussion known as mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). This can easily occur in soccer due to the frequent impact of the head with a ball that can travel at speeds close to 100 kph.

新的研究表明，足球运动员面临大脑损伤的风险，尤其是经常做头球动作的人。美国研究人员对38名30岁以上的业余足球运动员进行了测试，他们从童年时期就开始踢球。医生对他们进行了MRI大脑扫描，并进行了评估大脑功能的测试。研究人员还要求他们自我估计一下过去一年头球的次数。研究结果发现了在不踢足球的人群中罕见的脑损伤。医生报告称这是一种脑震荡，名为轻型脑外伤(TBI)。由于频繁地用头顶速度接近100千米每小时的球，这种情况在足球运动中很容易发生。

Lead author Doctor Michael Lipton explained the effect heading a ball can have on the brain: “Heading a soccer ball is not an impact of a magnitude that will [cut] nerve fibers in the brain, but repetitive heading may set off a cascade of responses that can lead to a degeneration of brain cells." He added: “Brain injury and cognitive impairment can result from heading a soccer ball with high frequency….These are findings that should be taken into consideration in planning future research to develop approaches to protect soccer players." Doctor Lipton concluded it would be difficult to detect brain injury in children as it takes years of heading a ball for the damage to show up in brain scans.

首席作者Michael Lipton解释了顶球可能对大脑造成的影响：“顶球并不会造成切断大脑神经元的重大影响，但是反复多次顶球会引发大量反应，导致脑细胞退化。”他补充说：“高频率的头球会导致大脑损伤和认知缺损。将来针对保护足球队员的方法进行研究时应该考虑这次的研究结果。”Lipton医生得出结论，洞察儿童大脑损伤非常困难，因为多年的顶球动作造成的损伤才会在脑扫描中表现出来。