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Could heading the ball leave lasting marks on Women's brains?

NCT ID NCT06788262

Knowledge-focused Sponsor: University Hospital, Strasbourg, France Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Aug 20, 2026 · Last updated Aug 21, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study uses MRI to compare brain structure and cognitive function in retired female professional soccer players who experienced repeated mild head impacts against high-level athletes in non-contact sports. The goal is to see whether years of heading and minor injuries are linked to subtle brain changes or thinking difficulties. By examining retired players, researchers hope to understand the long-term brain effects of soccer in women.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
Cerebral MRI
What this could lead to
If this trial succeeds, it could reveal early brain changes from repeated head impacts in female soccer players, potentially guiding future prevention or monitoring strategies.
What could go wrong
This is an observational study with a small sample size, so findings may not apply broadly. MRI changes may not directly predict cognitive decline, and the study cannot prove cause and effect.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 80 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Sep 2025

Expected to finish

Jun 2027

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

32 to 65 years

Sex

Female participants only

Healthy volunteers

Accepted

You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Exposed high-level athletes: female professional soccer players at the end of their career (32- years old) playing in France Ligue 1 or 2 exposed to repeated mild head injuries with no history of severe head injury or cerebral * Female High-level athletes not exposed to repeated mild head injuries: control group paired for age with female professional soccer players, who have never regularly participated in sports exposing them to head injuries (notably rugby, basketball, handball, American football, hockey, combat sports, etc.) and who have no history of head injury, even mild. Female Professional tennis players or former players will be preferentially recruited. Exclusion Criteria: * Refusal to be informed of abnormalities on MRI * Incapacity to give informed consent or under a legal protection order; * History of cerebral concussion including the presence after head shock of one or more of the following signs or symptoms: a period of confusion or disorientation, a period of loss of consciousness of 30 minutes or less, post-traumatic amnesia not exceeding 24 hours * History of severe head/brain injury; * History of neurological or psychiatric disorder; * Known cerebral abnormality diagnosed by an imaging exam (CT or MRI); * History or regular or occasional consumption of drugs, unweaned active smoking or weaned for less than 1 year, excessive consumption of alcohol (\> 20 g alcohol per day, evaluated with the formula "degree of alcohol × volume in cl × 8/1000"), weaned or not. * Usage of medication targeting the central nervous system in the 2 weeks preceding inclusion in the study; * Prior history of severe hypertension, diabetes, chronic heart disease, progressive or disabling disease; * Contraindication to MRI (claustrophobia, implanted material not compatible with MRI, refusal to be informed of abnormality discovered on MRI)

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy dementia pugilistica traumatic encephalopathy

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Traumatic chronic encephalopathy

How to take part

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  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg

    RECRUITING

    Strasbourg, 67091, France