Former Elite Soccer Players Show Brain Health Changes by Midlife

Former elite soccer players showed higher symptom burden and structural brain differences in midlife compared with controls, according to findings presented at the 2026 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

The study included 142 former professional soccer players aged 30 to 60 years and 56 healthy controls without a history of contact sports, military service, repetitive head impacts, concussion, or neurologic disease. The former player group included 126 men with at least 3 years of full-time professional play and 16 women who competed in the top 2 tiers of women’s professional soccer in the United Kingdom.

Data Highlights

• In interim analyses, 31% of former players had clinically significant depression symptoms compared with 9% of controls.
• Clinically significant anxiety symptoms were reported in 42% of former players and 25% of controls.
• Former players also reported more difficulty with planning, attention, problem-solving, and daily task management.
• Structural MRI data from 124 former players showed lower gray matter volume in regions involved in memory, attention, decision-making, and emotional regulation.
• Approximately 2% of scans showed clinically significant atrophy suggestive of neurodegeneration on neuroradiology review.

The authors noted that longitudinal follow-up and additional biomarkers are needed to clarify whether these changes reflect trauma-related neurodegeneration and how repetitive head impacts may affect long-term brain health.

Source

Lynch CG, et al. Mid-life brain health in former elite soccer players. Presented at: Alzheimer’s Association International Conference; July 2026; London, UK.