Athletic concussion hurt memory later

MONTREAL, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Concussion in former athletes can affect mental and physical processes more than 30 years later, Canadian medical researchers said.

The study, published online in the journal Brain, compared 19 healthy, former athletes who had sustained concussion more than 30 years ago with 21 healthy, former athletes with no history of concussion.

The study found that those who had suffered concussion only once or twice in their early adulthood showed a decline in their attention and memory and a slowing of some of their movements compared to athletes who had no concussion.

"This study shows that the effects of sports concussions in early adulthood persist beyond 30 years post-concussion and that it can cause cognitive and motor function alterations as the athletes age," first author Louis De Beaumont, a graduate student at the University of Montreal, said in a statement. "In the light of these findings, athletes should be better informed about the cumulative and persistent effects of sports concussion on mental and physical processes so that they know about the risks associated with returning to their sport."

De Beaumont said that follow-up studies would be needed to investigate whether concussion could make former athletes more vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.