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Heading footballs has been linked to brain trauma and memory loss, a new study has found.
Scientists from the Univrsity of Stirling discovered "small but significant changes in brain function" in players after each headed a ball twenty times.
The test subjects experienced memory imparement by up to 67 per cent after the heading session - the effects of which wore off after 24 hours.
The research team have not yet tested whether repetitive heading of a football has a long-term term effect on the brain.
Cognitive neuroscientist Dr Magdalena Ietswaart said: "Using a drill most amateur and professional teams would be familiar with, we found there was in fact increased inhibition in the brain immediately after heading and that performance on memory tests was reduced significantly.
"Although the changes were temporary, we believe they are significant to brain health, particularly if they happen over and over again as they do in football heading."
Former England and West Bromich Albion striker Jeff Astle died in 2002 aged 59 as a result of a degenerative brain disease.
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The coroner at the inquest into Mr Astle's death judged the repeated minor traumas of heading a football caused his early death.
His daughter Dawn told Sky News : "It's now time the football authorities stopped sweeping it under the carpet and got on with the research so that we know the risks not just for the elite level but for kids playing football."
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