Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36972014›Full record

ArticleSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2023

Sparring and the Brain: The Associations between Sparring and Regional Brain Volumes in Professional Mixed Martial Arts Fighters.

Aaron I Esagoff, Nicolas J Heckenlaible, Michael J C Bray, Andres Pasuizaca, Barry R Bryant, Guogen Shan, Matthew E Peters, Charles B Bernick, Bharat R Narapareddy

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Article in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Aaron I EsagoffDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA. aesago1@jhmi.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-8433-5091
Nicolas J HeckenlaibleDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0621-2795
Michael J C BrayDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4650-1313
Andres PasuizacaDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3227-2284
Barry R BryantDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3627-7824
Guogen ShanCollege of Public Health and Health Professions and College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8690-6599
Matthew E PetersDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5668-4566
Charles B BernickDepartment of Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4040-3587
Bharat R NarapareddyDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5300 Alpha Commons Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3538-9565

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, due to exposure to repetitive head impacts, are at risk for brain atrophy and neurodegenerative sequelae. Simultaneously, motor skills training and cognition-rich activities have been linked with larger regional brain volumes. The majority of an MMA fighter's sporting activity occurs during practice (e.g., sparring) rather than formal competition. This study, therefore, aims to be the first to explore regional brain volumes associated with sparring in MMA fighters.

methodsNinety-four active, professional MMA fighters from the Professional Fighters Brain Health Study met inclusion criteria for this cross-sectional analysis. Adjusted multivariable regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationship between the number of sparring practice rounds per week during typical training and a select number of regional brain volumes (i.e., caudate, thalamus, putamen, hippocampus, amygdala).

resultsA higher number of weekly sparring rounds during training was significantly associated with larger left (beta = 13.5 µL/round, 95% CI 2.26-24.8) and right (beta = 14.9 µL/round, 95% CI 3.64-26.2) caudate volumes. Sparring was not significantly associated with left or right thalamus, putamen, hippocampus, or amygdala volumes.

conclusionsMore weekly rounds of sparring was not significantly associated with smaller volumes in any of the brain regions studied in active, professional MMA fighters. Sparring's significant association with larger caudate volume raises questions about whether fighters who spar more experience attenuated trauma-related decreases in caudate volume relative to fighters who spar less, whether fighters who spar more experience minimal or even positive changes to caudate volume, whether baseline differences in caudate size may have mediated results, or whether some other mechanism may be at play. Given limitations inherent to the cross-sectional study design, more research is needed to further explore the brain effects of sparring in MMA.

Indexed as

BrainMartial ArtsCognitionCross-Sectional StudiesHumans

Identifiers

PMID36972014

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.