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Traumatic brain injuries can lead to long-term neurological and psychiatric disorders -- ScienceDaily

Researchers examined how injuries affected children up to five years later. They found that only 59 percent of children with traumatic brain injury could expect to be symptom-free in 5 years, versus 80 percent of those with orthopedic injuries.
#brain #CTE - sciencedaily.com

Genetic risk factor for CTE detected: Findings may offer insight into how the disease occurs -- ScienceDaily

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the VA Boston Healthcare System (VABHS) studied 86 former contact-sport athletes whose brains were donated to the VA-BU-CLF brain bank and found to have evidence of CTE, but no other pathology. The athlete brains were examined for genetic variation in TMEM106B, a gene thought to be involved in the brain's inflammation system. Overall, the genetic variation was not different in those with CTE compared to those without. "However, among the athletes with CTE, variation did predict increased CTE pathology and brain inflammation. Additionally, the risk allele increased the likelihood of developing dementia by 2.5 times suggesting the variant might predict an increased risk for developing the symptoms of CTE," explained first author Jonathan Cherry, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in neurology at BUSM.
#DNA #CTE - sciencedaily.com

Study of Retired NFL and NHL Players Doesn't Find Evidence of Early Onset Dementia - Neuroscience News

The assessments of cognitive function (e.g., memory, attention, visual spatial orientation), executive function and mental health in the retired athletes didn’t reveal statistically significant impairment compared to controls. The researchers did find evidence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in more of the retired athletes than the controls, but said the rate was as expected for the age, education level and body mass index of the athletes, all factors that can raise the risk of MCI; it also was not statistically significant. Advanced brain imaging detected no microscopic or macroscopic brain tissue injury differences in retired athletes versus the controls. The non-contact sport athletes were found to have a higher rate of microbleeds in the brain but these results only approached statistical significance.
#brain #concussions #CTE - neurosciencenews.com