Heading the ball in children’s and youth soccer is not categorically prohibited by clubs affiliated with the German Football Association (DFB). However, for several years now, the DFB has been promoting age-appropriate, limited heading training using new game formats that significantly reduce heading and only gradually increase its intensity once players reach adolescence. These measures were the result of relevant medical studies. On the one hand, population-based studies linked professional soccer playing to an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases.

On the other hand, experiments have shown that heading the ball can indeed lead to changes in brain structure and function. However, “the data on children and adolescents is generally quite sparse,” says Prof. Dr. Inga Körte, professor of neurobiological research in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy at LMU University Hospital Munich.

Under the neuroscientist’s leadership, the “REPIMPACT Study” was therefore launched with youth soccer players and, for comparison, teenagers who participate in low-contact sports such as tennis. The approximately 130 participants were studied in Munich, the Norwegian capital Oslo, and Leuven, Belgium—meaning they were coached by different trainers.

The study began before the start of a soccer season, when the adolescents—as well as the control subjects—were analyzed in detail for the first time. “We deliberately took a broad perspective,” says Inga Körte. This means:

• The structure, function, and metabolism of the participants’ brains were imaged using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• The adolescents underwent extensive neuropsychological testing—memory, impulse control, reaction time, and so on; their motor skills and balance were also analyzed.
• In addition, various substances in the blood were tested; these “biomarkers” provide information about various brain functions and conditions, such as traumatic brain injury.

This entire set of analyses was repeated at the end of the soccer season and again exactly one year after the study began. In addition, the soccer-playing adolescents reported approximately how many headers they had made. “All in all, it was an immense effort for the participants and all the colleagues involved from seven different countries in Europe and the U.S.,” says the neuroscientist.

Result: After one season, the researchers found no statistically significant differences between teenage soccer players and adolescents who played low-contact sports in terms of cognition, behavior, balance, brain structure, and brain function. Nor was the self-reported number of headers associated with changes in the parameters examined. In short, according to Körte: “For those who play soccer competitively at this age, another season of soccer does not result in any significant changes to the brain.”

However, the new findings do not mean the all-clear in the long term. “The existing global research literature shows that frequent heading is not good for the brain in the long run,” says Inga Körte. And: “In our study, certain biomarkers associated with brain damage were higher at the start of the season than in the control group. This needs to be investigated further.”

The study was funded by European research grants through ERA-NET NEURON. Prof. Dr. Inga Körte in Munich coordinated the consortium.

Koerte IK, Wiegand TLT, Bonke EM, et al. Youth Soccer Participation and Brain Health Outcomes in Adolescent Athletes. JAMA Network Open. 2026;9(6):e2619569. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.19569