, describes the features of 152 brains donated between February 1, 2008, and September 31, 2022, to the UNITE brain bank — the largest tissue repository in the world focused on traumatic brain injury and CTE. Sixty-three out of the 152 donated brains had autopsy-confirmed CTE.
Previous studies have shown that repetitive hits to the head — even without concussion — can result in CTE. Because a majority of the CTE samples previously evaluated came from older adults, looking at younger brains can provide an important perspective, said Dr. Julie Stamm, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was not involved with the new study.“As people get older, there are age-related neurodegenerative changes, and just general degenerative changes that are happening,” Stamm said.
In a study published earlier this year, BU’s CTE Center found nearly 92 per cent of 376 former NFL players studied were diagnosed with CTE.Only 11 of the total 152 brain donors evaluated in the new study were female, including one positive diagnosis, a 28-year-old collegiate soccer player who was not identified.
McKee noted there were also some suggestions of atrophy or shrinkage of the brain in those people diagnosed with CTE because their ventricles — cavities within a brain’s interior — were slightly dilated, indicating that they likely lost some brain volume. Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows in 2021, suicide was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 14 and 20 to 34.
However, when someone begins playing football as a young child and continues to play through adulthood, that is when their risk of developing the disease increases, Stamm said, adding that “total cumulative lifetime exposure to repetitive brain trauma is the greatest risk factor for CTE.”