A new study of Canadian hockey players shows concussions -- even one concussion -- can cause significant changes to brain matter.

Researchers from the Hockey Concussion Education Project, an independent collaboration of specialists from Canada and the United States, examined the effects of concussions on 45 male and female Canadian university hockey players through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analyses done on players before, during and after a single hockey season.

The group discovered evidence that hits to the head led to alteration to the brain on a microscopic scale, and also concussion incidence was 3-5 times higher within the sport than previously reported.

The research team observed changes in white matter -- the material in the brain that affects how one learns and functions by transmitting signals from one part of the brain to the other.

It also noted inflammation levels were altered in the brains of study subjects who had sustained even one concussion.

The study revealed considerable differences between the brain microstructures of hockey players who had not suffered concussions and those who had.

Comparisons between male and female players involved in the study showed that male athletes had higher-velocity head trauma while female athletes showed a higher incidence of concussions.

"Will we foster the development of our young people's cognitive, social and physical potential in a safe and protected environment -- or will we continue to teach and reward a culture of violence and accepted brain injuries as 'part of the game?'" asked Dr. Paul Echlin, the lead author of the study.

"What are our societal goals?" he continued. "Are we able to evolve and make significant or even radical changes in the sports themselves based on the scientific evidence of too many serious short and long-term brain injuries?"

The HCEP -- conducted by Harvard Medical School, Brigham and the Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and Western University of Canada -- has twice published peer-reviewed scientific findings that highlight the incidence of concussion and the inflicted injuries on young hockey players.