news 2013

A new study has discovered profound abnormalities in brain activity in a group of retired American football players. Although the former players in the study were not diagnosed with any neurological condition, brain imaging tests revealed unusual activity that correlated with how many times they had left the field with a head injury during their careers.

Athletes participating in a team sport like football, rugby, or hockey, who behave in an anti-social way on the pitch, are also antisocial in their interactions with other students at university, according to research published by University of Birmingham sports scientists in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology .

Study tests how much CFL players and their university-level counterparts know about concussions-and how to deal with them. Research from the University of Alberta shows Canadian Football League players are more likely than university-level players to value medical tests after concussions. But the professional athletes are more apt to incorrectly believe it's OK to return to the sport within 24 to 48 hours if they have no symptoms.

If you are born earlier in the sporting year there is a good chance the elite sports selection process will be biased in your favour. According to a study published today in the online science journal PLOS ONE , National Hockey League (NHL) draftees born between July and December were on average much more likely to go on to have successful top level playing careers and compared to those born in the first three months of the sporting year who were initially more favoured by the sports' system.