Retired NFL Players Evidently Show 'Brain Abnormalities'

Unusual activities in the brains of former NFL players were found by researchers engaged in a recent study, according to Live Science.

The study which was published in journal Scientific Reports on Wednesday found that these traits were observed during brain scans and unusual activities were found to have been most common among players whose careers in the field were marked by frequent head injuries requiring them to leave.

"The NFL alumni showed some of the most pronounced abnormalities in brain activity that I have ever seen, and I have processed a lot of patient data sets in the past," study lead author Dr. Adam Hampshire, of the department of medicine at Imperial College London, in the United Kingdom, said in a statement.

Researchers involved in the study tested brain scans taken from 13 retired NFL players who suspected they were suffering from neurological problems due to injuries incurred during their playing years. The players believed these neurological problems were threatening their daily activities, according to Health Day.

Past researches have linked playing football to higher rates of brain diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. "The critical fact is that the level of brain abnormality correlates strongly with the measure of head impacts of great enough severity to warrant being taken out of play," Hampshire said. "This means that it is highly likely that damage caused by blows to the head accumulate toward an executive impairment in later life."

However, Dr. Adam Hampshire said that there may be a need to conduct further studies and researches on the relationship between unusual brain activities and frequent head injuries due to football. "This is a relatively preliminary study," he said. "We really need to test more players and to track players across seasons using brain imaging."