NFL retirees are more likely to have depression and cognitive problems due to brain injury, suggests research led by University of Texas at Dallas. In the study, 34 retired NFL players submitted to neurological, neuropsychological tests, interviews, and detailed brain scans. These results were then compared to brain scans of healthy individuals. While 58% of the players had cognitively normal results, 24% had mild cognitive impairments, 12% had cognitive deficits and 6% had dementia. 24% of the athletes were also diagnosed with depression. The brain scans showed that the athletes with cognitive impairment and depression had "significant differences" in their brain's white matter compared with that of healthy individuals. (JAMA Neurology, online Jan. 7, 2013)