Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: Contributions from the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy

Abstract

Objective: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive brain trauma (RBT). Initially described in boxers, CTE has now been found in other contact sport athletes with a history of RBT. In recent years, there has been tremendous media attention regarding CTE, primarily because of the deaths of high profile American football players who were found to have CTE upon neuropathological examination. However, the study of CTE remains in its infancy. This review focuses on research from the Centre for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) at Boston University.

Methods: This study reviews the formation of the CSTE, major CSTE publications and current ongoing research projects at the CSTE.

Results: The neuropathology of CTE has been well-described. Current research focuses on: methods of diagnosing the disease during life (including the development of biomarkers), examination of CTE risk factors (including genetic susceptibility and head impact exposure variables); description of the clinical presentation of CTE; development of research diagnostic criteria for Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome; and assessment of mechanism and pathogenesis.

Conclusions: Current research at the BU CSTE is aimed at increasing understanding of the long-term consequences of repetitive head impacts and attempting to begin to answer several of the unanswered questions regarding CTE.

• Aggression
• cognition
• concussion
• dementia
• dementia pugilistica
• depression
• neurodegeneration
• sub-concussive trauma
• tauopathy
• traumatic brain injury

Acknowledgements

The writing of this paper was supported, in part, by NIH grants R01 NS078337, AG13846 and U01-NS086659 and by Department of Defense grant W81XWH-13-2-0064.

Declaration of interest

Mr Riley was responsible for drafting and revising the manuscript. He reports no conflicts of interest. Mr Robbins was responsible for revising the manuscript. He reports no conflicts of interest. Dr Cantu participated in revising the manuscript. He is Vice President of the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), Co-Founder and Chairman Medical Director of Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) and Senior Advisor to the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee. He has received support from the Andlinger Foundation. He gave expert testimony in the trials of: Carey vs. Northwestern Memorial Hospital; Arbec vs. Dr Hardin and St. Joseph’s; and Grane vs. Methodist Medical Center of Illinois. He receives royalties from the publication of the books, ‘Catastrophic Football Injuries’, ‘Diabetes and Exercise’, ‘Neurologic Head and Spine Injuries’ and ‘Concussions and our Kids’. Dr Stern is the senior and corresponding author. He participated in drafting and revising the manuscript. He is funded by NIH grants R01 NS078337, R01 MH080295, R01 CA129769, P30 AG13846 and U01-NS086659 and by Department of Defense grant W81XWH-13-2-0064. He has also received research funding from the NFL and the NFL Players Association. He is a member of the Mackey-White Traumatic Brain Injury Committee of the NFL Players Association. He is a paid consultant to Athena Diagnostics and has been a consultant to Janssen Alzheimer’s Immunotherapy and Ely Lilly. He receives royalties for published neuropsychological tests from Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. as well as compensation from expert legal opinion.