from Kerry Gillespie of the Toronto Star,

The first scientific study to delve into the long-term impacts of concussions specifically among National Hockey League players has yielded some surprising initial results.

The Rotman Research Institute at Toronto’s Baycrest Health Sciences is collecting brain images and genetic data and conducting a battery of tests on retired NHL players.

On objective tests of cognitive functions such as memory, attention and processing information, the NHL alumni do about as well as the study’s comparison group, and it doesn’t matter how many concussions they had during their careers or whether they have the APOE4 allele, a type of gene that has been associated with increased dementia.

“If there was impairment, it was subtle and nobody was significantly cognitively impaired,” said Dr. Brian Levine, the study’s lead.

Given how much attention there has been lately on the long-term dangers of repeated hits to the head, particularly among football players in the NFL, that’s not necessarily what they might have expected to find.

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