Non-Fiction Thing

   I read an article called " New Worries About Heading The Soccer Ball" by:  Gretchen Reynolds. It was about if when players head the ball in soccer [which is when they hit the ball with their head] if it affects their brain.
      It was difficult for scientists to test this before because it was hard to collect data immediately after player    had headed the ball. Also some of the stuff needed to collect the data was lab based. But then the iPad came out which was very portable and easy to use.
       Scientists went to a high school and watched a female soccer team practice. They chose a female soccer team because female soccer teams are second to football in number of concussions. They watched the soccer team and immediately after made them do the anti-point test. The anti-point test is a test where there are 4 different colored boxes that form a square. A random box lights up and you have to press the box immediately opposite the lit up box. This tests the brains ability to asses the situation and take action.
          They tested a group of the soccer girls immediately after practice and a group of non soccer players after a full day of school. The soccer players scored significantly worse on the anti-point test than the non soccer players. Then the scientists asked the soccer players how many years they had been playing soccer. The girls who had been playing soccer the longest scored worse on the anti-point test than the girls who had been playing for a shorter period of time.

                My thoughts on this are that it would make sense that heading a ball would have effect on your brain's ability. Years of repeated impacts on the head. I would be surprised if there was no effect.