Executive functions in adolescent hockey players competing with different rules for body checking

Abstract

A history of multiple concussions may lead to later-life neurodegeneration and persistent cognitive impairment. Repeated sub-concussive impacts over a career could play a role in this process, however evidence remains limited. Although imaging studies reveal cortical thinning and white matter changes, no impairments are detected in neuropsychological studies. Thus, we sought to explore the effect of body checking experience, which can be considered as repeated sub-concussive impacts, on executive functions in young hockey players. Sixty-six young hockey players, aged between 12 and 17 years, went through a preseason baseline cognitive testing. In this age range, players are separated into 3 groups according to the body checking rule each division is playing (i.e., full body checking, progressive body checking, and no body checking). Executive functions were assessed using a task-switching paradigm. Primary outcome measures were accuracy and reaction time. An ANCOVA with age as covariate was conducted to compare groups according to the body checking rule they have experienced. Analysis revealed no significant group difference in task performance ( p = 0.91), suggesting that executive functions are not influenced by body checking experience. Age strongly correlated with accuracy ( p = 0.01; r2 = 0.37), suggesting that younger athletes performed poorly on the task relative to their older teammates. These preliminary results support that body checking experience did not appear to affect executive functions in adolescent hockey players. However, age seemed to be a predictor of accuracy agreeing with literature that executive functions continue to develop during adolescence. A post-season testing will be conducted to investigate the effect of body checking on executive functions over an entire season.