In May 2026, Dr. Eleanna Varangis presented a synthesis of her latest research at the 2026 ACSM Annual Meeting as part of a symposium with Drs. Jaclyn Caccese, Hector Arciniega, and Niki Konstantinides. Dr. Varangis’ presentation covered her lab’s work looking at the potential positive effects of sport on cognitive and brain health in kids (led by former post-doc Dr. James Shih and current PhD student Julia Leskow), and how this can motivate studies on the long-term effects of amateur sport on brain health later in life. The take-home message from her talk was that in childhood, participation in sport appears to be largely beneficial to neurocognitive health and function, and that there is currently no evidence to suggest that there is a deleterious effect of youth or High School-level contact or collision (e.g., football) sport participation on brain health in the context of aging.

Publication: Cognitive Benefits of Open-Skill Sports in Childhood: Evidence from the ABCD Study

PhD student Julia Leskow presented her research which explored differences in inhibitory control among youth involved in collision sports, non-contact sports, and non-sport activities. Using functional MRI data, the study found that youth athletes demonstrated greater activation in a brain region associated with auditory processing during a response inhibition task, suggesting they may rely more on internal self-talk strategies to support performance. The study also found no distinct deleterious effects of collision sport participation. Such findings highlight the potential influence of sport participation on neurocognitive function, and contribute to ongoing efforts to better understand brain health in young athletes. This research has since been published in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal.”

Publication: Effects of Youth Sport Participation on Neural Processing During Response Inhibition in Children