NEW ORLEANS – Mixed martial arts sparring was associated with increased white matter hyperintensity volume and a large caudate region, suggesting some protective function, a researcher said at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.
Aaron I. Esagoff, BS, a medical student at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and intern with the FDA, and colleagues assessed 92 active professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters with available practice and MRI data to evaluate the effects of sparring on white matter and regional brain volumes.
“Sparring is the practice of striking