Even a brief session of heading a football immediately alters brain function and the way the brain communicates with the muscles around it, a new study has shown.<br /><br />Participants who headed 20 footballs in succession did not improve their performance on a cognitive task with practice, whereas a control group who performed headers in virtual reality did.<br /><br />The heading impacts, therefore, appeared to impair the ability to improve performance on this task, the study by academics at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport found.