MMA fighting linked to increased white matter hyperintensity volume in brain
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NEW ORLEANS - Mixed martial arts sparring was associated with increased white matter hyperintensity volume and a large caudate region, suggesting some protective function, a researcher said at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.
Aaron I. Esagoff, BS, a medical student at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and intern with the FDA, and colleagues assessed 92 active professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters with available practice and MRI data to evaluate the effects of sparring on white matter and regional brain volumes.
“Sparring is the practice of striking that can be with kicks, with punches, with elbows,” Esagoff said during an APA press conference. “Oftentimes, when you're sparring in practice, you're not necessarily going to use full force, but you're still really going for it. With grappling, that's more of a wrestling component that combines chokes, armbars, different techniques to put your opponent in a position where they can't really get out.”
Esagoff and colleagues conducted a multivariate regression analysis using the data and adjustments made to account for age, sex, education level, race, number of professional fights, total intracranial volume and type of MRI scanner.
“We had a very strong significant association between the amount of sparring per week and white matter hyperintensity volume and bilateral caudate size,” Esagoff said. “All the [data] is showing us is that when you have more sparring compared to less, you have a larger caudate compared to the people who spar less than you do.”
Esagoff said that white matter hyperintensities could result from many different things, and the dataset is speculative.
“The white matter hyperintensities might indicate some damage that comes with sparring,” Esagoff said. “But the larger bilateral caudate compared to individuals who spar less might indicate a protective effect.”