FROM THE ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2026

FORMER ELITE SOCCER PLAYERS SHOW EVIDENCE OF BRAIN HEALTH CHANGES IN MID-LIFE Key Takeaways New research provides insights into brain health among former elite professional soccer players during midlife. Former players reported high levels of depression, anxiety, and subjective difficulties with thinking and decision-making. Researchers found brain differences that warrant further study. The findings highlight the need for long-term monitoring and further research into the effects of repetitive head impacts in sports. Additional studies presented at AAIC 2026 link greater heading exposure and longer soccer careers with biomarkers of neural injury, tau accumulation and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) risk. A new study of former elite soccer players provides important insights into brain health and player-reported neurological symptoms compared to people without a history of repetitive head impacts, according to the first and largest study of its kind in retired professional soccer players, presented today at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference ® (AAIC ® ) 2026 in London and online. The former players reported higher levels of depression and anxiety and had subjective difficulties with thinking and decision-making skills. MRI scans identified differences in brain structure between some former players and a comparison group of healthy people with no history of contact sports or head injuries. The findings add to a growing body of research, including additional studies reported at AAIC 2026, exploring how soccer play may influence brain health over time. "These findings suggest there may be measurable effects on brain health in former elite soccer players even in mid-life, before clinically apparent neurodegenerative disease would typically emerge," said Caleigh Grace Lynch, M.Sc., lead author of the study and a research technician at Imperial College London and the UK Dementia Research Institute Centre for ...