Study finds no neuropsychological risk in MMA
Participation in the growing sport of MMA by a typical athlete may not pose significant – or at least unique – neuropsychological risk compared to other contact sports.
Recently the Journal of Athletic Enhancement released a first of its kind study examining the cognitive performance on neuropsychological testing of MMA athletes.
The study, authored by Christopher Heath and Jennifer Callahan, conducted a series of cognitive performance tests on 28 MMA athletes and a control group of 28 non MMA athletes.
The MMA athletes reported training an average of 2.6 days per week. 29% of these reported previously experiencing a knockout with almost half of the group reporting a previous TKO. The mean age for the athletes was 28.9 years.
The control athletes were non MMA fighters who participate in exercise regimens that do not involve repeated head trauma such as submission wrestling or high intensity interval training.
The study sought to see if the MMA athletes would differ in neuropsycholigical functioning compared to the control group. No meaningful differences were found with the authors concluding that the neurocognitive performance of MMA athletes was indistinguishable from control athletes not regularly exposed to repeated head trauma.
The risk of head trauma in MMA, as with any full contact sport, remains real and studies such as this should not be misinterpreted to suggest that MMA is not without real risks. The study points out its limitations noting that additional research is warranted particularly focusing on a larger sample and breaking down further factors such as intensity and frequency of sparring. That said, the study’s conclusion that participation in the growing sport of MMA by a typical athlete may not pose significant – or at least unique – neuropsychological risk compared to other contact sports is worth noting by stakeholders studying these issues.
The full study can be found here – https://canadianmmalawblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/assessment-of-cognitive-functioning-in-mixed-martial-arts-athletes.pdf
Original article here – http://combatsportslaw.com/2014/12/23/noteworthy-results-released-in-mma-brain-injury-study/