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Brett BL, Cohen AD, McCrea MA, Wang Y. Longitudinal alterations in cerebral perfusion following a season of adolescent contact sport participation compared to non-contact athletes. Neuroimage Clin 2023; 40:103538. [PMID: 37956583 PMCID: PMC10666028 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cerebral blood flow (CBF) change, a non-invasive marker of head injury, has yet to be thoroughly investigated as a potential consequence of repetitive head impacts (RHI) via contact sport participation in youth athletes. We examined pre-to post-season differences in relative CBF (rCBF), arterial transit time (ATT), and neurocognition between adolescent contact sport (CS; 79.4% of which were football players) and non-contact sport (NCS) athletes. METHODS Adolescent athletes (N = 57; age = 14.70 ± 1.97) completed pre- and post-season clinical assessments and neuroimaging. Brain perfusion was evaluated using an advanced 3D pseudo-continuous ASL sequence with Hadamard encoded multiple post-labeling delays. Mixed-effect models tested group-by-time interactions for rCBF, ATT, and neurocognition. RESULTS A significant group-by-time interaction was observed for rCBF in a cluster consisting primarily of frontal and parietal lobe regions, with regional rCBF increasing in CS and decreasing among NCS athletes. No significant interaction was observed for ATT. A significant group-by-time interaction was observed for verbal memory and visual motor speed, with NCS athletes improving and CS athletes exhibiting lower performance from pre-to post-season in comparison. CONCLUSIONS Alterations in rCBF and variability in cognition, not purported neurovasculature changes (measured by ATT), were observed following one season of CS participation. Further study surrounding the clinical meaningfulness of these findings, as they related to adverse long-term outcomes, is needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin L Brett
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Neurosurgery, United States.
| | - Alex D Cohen
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Radiology, United States
| | - Michael A McCrea
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Neurosurgery, United States
| | - Yang Wang
- Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Radiology, United States.
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2
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Karimpoor M, Georgiadis M, Zhao MY, Goubran M, Moein Taghavi H, Mills BD, Tran D, Mouchawar N, Sami S, Wintermark M, Grant G, Camarillo DB, Moseley ME, Zaharchuk G, Zeineh MM. Longitudinal Alterations of Cerebral Blood Flow in High-Contact Sports. Ann Neurol 2023; 94:457-469. [PMID: 37306544 DOI: 10.1002/ana.26718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Repetitive head trauma is common in high-contact sports. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) can measure changes in brain perfusion that could indicate injury. Longitudinal studies with a control group are necessary to account for interindividual and developmental effects. We investigated whether exposure to head impacts causes longitudinal CBF changes. METHODS We prospectively studied 63 American football (high-contact cohort) and 34 volleyball (low-contact controls) male collegiate athletes, tracking CBF using 3D pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging for up to 4 years. Regional relative CBF (rCBF, normalized to cerebellar CBF) was computed after co-registering to T1-weighted images. A linear mixed effects model assessed the relationship of rCBF to sport, time, and their interaction. Within football players, we modeled rCBF against position-based head impact risk and baseline Standardized Concussion Assessment Tool score. Additionally, we evaluated early (1-5 days) and delayed (3-6 months) post-concussion rCBF changes (in-study concussion). RESULTS Supratentorial gray matter rCBF declined in football compared with volleyball (sport-time interaction p = 0.012), with a strong effect in the parietal lobe (p = 0.002). Football players with higher position-based impact-risk had lower occipital rCBF over time (interaction p = 0.005), whereas players with lower baseline Standardized Concussion Assessment Tool score (worse performance) had relatively decreased rCBF in the cingulate-insula over time (interaction effect p = 0.007). Both cohorts showed a left-right rCBF asymmetry that decreased over time. Football players with an in-study concussion showed an early increase in occipital lobe rCBF (p = 0.0166). INTERPRETATION These results suggest head impacts may result in an early increase in rCBF, but cumulatively a long-term decrease in rCBF. ANN NEUROL 2023;94:457-469.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Moss Y Zhao
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - Maged Goubran
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- Physical Sciences Platform & Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | | | - Brian D Mills
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - Dean Tran
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | | | - Sohrab Sami
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - Max Wintermark
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - Gerald Grant
- Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | | | | | - Greg Zaharchuk
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
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3
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Anderson ED, Talukdar T, Goodwin G, Di Pietro V, Yakoub KM, Zwilling CE, Davies D, Belli A, Barbey AK. Assessing blood oxygen level-dependent signal variability as a biomarker of brain injury in sport-related concussion. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad215. [PMID: 37649639 PMCID: PMC10465085 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Revised: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury is a complex neurological disorder of significant concern among athletes who play contact sports. Athletes who sustain sport-related concussion typically undergo physical examination and neurocognitive evaluation to determine injury severity and return-to-play status. However, traumatic disruption to neurometabolic processes can occur with minimal detectable anatomic pathology or neurocognitive alteration, increasing the risk that athletes may be cleared for return-to-play during a vulnerable period and receive a repetitive injury. This underscores the need for sensitive functional neuroimaging methods to detect altered cerebral physiology in concussed athletes. The present study compared the efficacy of Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing composite scores and whole-brain measures of blood oxygen level-dependent signal variability for classifying concussion status and predicting concussion symptomatology in healthy, concussed and repetitively concussed athletes, assessing blood oxygen level-dependent signal variability as a potential diagnostic tool for characterizing functional alterations to cerebral physiology and assisting in the detection of sport-related concussion. We observed significant differences in regional blood oxygen level-dependent signal variability measures for concussed athletes but did not observe significant differences in Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing scores of concussed athletes. We further demonstrate that incorporating measures of functional brain alteration alongside Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing scores enhances the sensitivity and specificity of supervised random forest machine learning methods when classifying and predicting concussion status and post-concussion symptoms, suggesting that alterations to cerebrovascular status characterize unique variance that may aid in the detection of sport-related concussion and repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. These results indicate that altered blood oxygen level-dependent variability holds promise as a novel neurobiological marker for detecting alterations in cerebral perfusion and neuronal functioning in sport-related concussion, motivating future research to establish and validate clinical assessment protocols that can incorporate advanced neuroimaging methods to characterize altered cerebral physiology following mild traumatic brain injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan D Anderson
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433, USA
| | - Tanveer Talukdar
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Grace Goodwin
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89557, USA
| | - Valentina Di Pietro
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Neurotrauma and Ophthalmology Research Group, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK
| | - Kamal M Yakoub
- Neurotrauma and Ophthalmology Research Group, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK
| | - Christopher E Zwilling
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - David Davies
- Neurotrauma and Ophthalmology Research Group, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK
| | - Antonio Belli
- Neurotrauma and Ophthalmology Research Group, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
- NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK
| | - Aron K Barbey
- Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
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4
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Butterfield J, Post A, Karton C, Robidoux MA, Gilchrist M, Hoshizaki TB. A video analysis examination of the frequency and type of head impacts for player positions in youth ice hockey and FE estimation of their impact severity. Sports Biomech 2023:1-17. [PMID: 36911883 DOI: 10.1080/14763141.2023.2186941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/14/2023]
Abstract
This research employed head impact frequency and frequency of estimated strain to analyse the influence of player position on brain trauma in U15 and U18 youth ice hockey. The methods involved a video analysis of 30 U15 and 30 U18 games where frequency, type of head impact event, and player position during impact was recorded. These impacts were then simulated in the laboratory using physical reconstructions and finite element modelling to determine the brain strains for each impact category. U15 forwards experienced significantly higher head impact frequencies (139) when compared to defenceman (50), with goalies showing the lowest frequency (6) (p < 0.05). U18 forwards experienced significantly higher head impact frequencies (220) when compared to defenceman (92), with goalies having the least frequent head impacts (4) (p < 0.05). The U15 forwards had a significantly higher frequency of head impacts at the very low and med strains and the U18s had higher frequency of head impacts for the very low and low level strains (p < 0.05). Game rule changes and equipment innovation may be considered to mitigate the increased risk faced by forwards compared to other positions in U15 and U18 youth ice hockey.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew Post
- Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Clara Karton
- Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Michael Gilchrist
- Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.,School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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5
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Liang B, Alosco ML, Armañanzas R, Martin BM, Tripodis Y, Stern RA, Prichep LS. Long-Term Changes in Brain Connectivity Reflected in Quantitative Electrophysiology of Symptomatic Former National Football League Players. J Neurotrauma 2023; 40:309-317. [PMID: 36324216 PMCID: PMC9902050 DOI: 10.1089/neu.2022.0029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI) has been associated with long-term disturbances in cognition, mood, and neurobehavioral dysregulation, and reflected in neuroimaging. Distinct patterns of changes in quantitative features of the brain electrical activity (quantitative electroencephalogram [qEEG]) have been demonstrated to be sensitive to brain changes seen in neurodegenerative disorders and in traumatic brain injuries (TBI). While these qEEG biomarkers are highly sensitive at time of injury, the long-term effects of exposure to RHI on brain electrical activity are relatively unexplored. Ten minutes of eyes closed resting EEG data were collected from a frontal and frontotemporal electrode montage (BrainScope Food and Drug Administration-cleared EEG acquisition device), as well as assessments of neuropsychiatric function and age of first exposure (AFE) to American football. A machine learning methodology was used to derive a qEEG-based algorithm to discriminate former National Football League (NFL) players (n = 87, 55.40 ± 7.98 years old) from same-age men without history of RHI (n = 68, 54.94 ± 7.63 years old), and a second algorithm to discriminate former players with AFE <12 years (n = 33) from AFE ≥12 years (n = 54). The algorithm separating NFL retirees from controls had a specificity = 80%, a sensitivity = 60%, and an area under curve (AUC) = 0.75. Within the NFL population, the algorithm separating AFE <12 from AFE ≥12 resulted in a sensitivity = 76%, a specificity = 52%, and an AUC = 0.72. The presence of a profile of EEG abnormalities in the NFL retirees and in those with younger AFE includes features associated with neurodegeneration and the disruption of neuronal transmission between regions. These results support the long-term consequences of RHI and the potential of EEG as a biomarker of persistent changes in brain function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Liang
- BrainScope Company, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
| | - Michael L. Alosco
- Boston University CTE Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ruben Armañanzas
- BrainScope Company, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
- Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
- Tecnun School of Engineering, Universidad de Navarra, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - Brett M. Martin
- Boston University CTE Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Yorghos Tripodis
- Boston University CTE Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Robert A. Stern
- Boston University CTE Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Departments of Neurosurgery and Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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6
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Vedung F, Fahlström M, Wall A, Antoni G, Lubberink M, Johansson J, Tegner Y, Stenson S, Haller S, Weis J, Larsson EM, Marklund N. Chronic cerebral blood flow alterations in traumatic brain injury and sports-related concussions. Brain Inj 2022; 36:948-960. [PMID: 35950271 DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2022.2109746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and sports-related concussion (SRC) may result in chronic functional and neuroanatomical changes. We tested the hypothesis that neuroimaging findings (cerebral blood flow (CBF), cortical thickness, and 1H-magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy (MRS)) were associated to cognitive function, TBI severity, and sex. RESEARCH DESIGN Eleven controls, 12 athletes symptomatic following ≥3SRCs and 6 patients with moderate-severe TBI underwent MR scanning for evaluation of cortical thickness, brain metabolites (MRS), and CBF using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (ASL). Cognitive screening was performed using the RBANS cognitive test battery. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS RBANS-index was impaired in both injury groups and correlated with the injury severity, although not with any neuroimaging parameter. Cortical thickness correlated with injury severity (p = 0.02), while neuronal density, using the MRS marker ((NAA+NAAG)/Cr, did not. On multivariate analysis, injury severity (p = 0.0003) and sex (p = 0.002) were associated with CBF. Patients with TBI had decreased gray (p = 0.02) and white matter (p = 0.02) CBF compared to controls. CBF was significantly lower in total gray, white matter and in 16 of the 20 gray matter brain regions in female but not male athletes when compared to female and male controls, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Injury severity correlated with CBF, cognitive function, and cortical thickness. CBF also correlated with sex and was reduced in female, not male, athletes. Chronic CBF changes may contribute to the persistent injury mechanisms in TBI and rSRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fredrik Vedung
- Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Anders Wall
- PET Centre, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Surgical Sciences, Nuclear Medicine and PET, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gunnar Antoni
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mark Lubberink
- Medical Physics, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.,PET Centre, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jakob Johansson
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Anesthesiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Yelverton Tegner
- Department of Health Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Staffan Stenson
- Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation Medicine, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Sven Haller
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Radiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Affidea CDRC Centre de Diagnostic Radiologique de Carouge SA, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jan Weis
- Medical Physics, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Elna-Marie Larsson
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Radiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Niklas Marklund
- Department of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Neurosurgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden
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7
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Functional, but Minimal Microstructural Brain Changes Present in Aging Canadian Football League Players Years After Retirement. BRAIN DISORDERS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dscb.2022.100036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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8
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Iverson GL, Merz ZC, Terry DP. High-School Football and Midlife Brain Health Problems. Clin J Sport Med 2022; 32:86-94. [PMID: 35234740 PMCID: PMC8868212 DOI: 10.1097/jsm.0000000000000898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine whether middle-aged men who played high-school football experience worse mental health or cognitive functioning than men who did not play high-school football. DESIGN Cross-sectional cohort study. SETTING Online survey completed remotely. PARTICIPANTS A total of 435 men between the ages of 35 and 55 completed the study, of whom 407 were included in the analyses after excluding participants who answered embedded validity items incorrectly (n = 16), played semiprofessional football (n = 2), or experienced a recent concussion (n = 10). ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS Self-reported high school football participation, compared with those who played contact sports, noncontact sports, and no sports. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES A lifetime history of depression or anxiety; mental health or cognitive problems in the past year; current depression symptoms, and post-concussion-like symptoms. RESULTS Middle-aged men who played high-school football did not have a higher prevalence of being prescribed medication for anxiety or depression or receiving treatment from a mental health professional. Similarly, there were no significant differences between groups on the rates in which they endorsed depression, anxiety, anger, concentration problems, memory problems, headaches, migraines, neck or back pain, or chronic pain over the past year. A greater proportion of those who played football reported sleep problems over the past year and reported being prescribed medication for chronic pain and for headaches. CONCLUSIONS Men who played high-school football did not report worse brain health compared with those who played other contact sports, noncontact sports, or did not participate in sports during high school.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grant L. Iverson
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Spaulding Research Institute, MassGeneral Hospital for Children Sports Concussion Program, and Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, Charlestown, Massachusetts and
| | - Zachary C. Merz
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC Memorial Hospital, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Douglas P. Terry
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Spaulding Research Institute, MassGeneral Hospital for Children Sports Concussion Program, and Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, Charlestown, Massachusetts and
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9
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Mayer AR, Quinn DK. Neuroimaging Biomarkers of New-Onset Psychiatric Disorders Following Traumatic Brain Injury. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 91:459-469. [PMID: 34334188 PMCID: PMC8665933 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has traditionally been associated with cognitive and behavioral changes during both the acute and chronic phases of injury. Because of its noninvasive nature, neuroimaging has the potential to provide unique information on underlying macroscopic and microscopic biological mechanisms that may serve as causative agents for these neuropsychiatric sequelae. This broad scoping review identifies at least 4 common macroscopic pathways that exist between TBI and new-onset psychiatric disorders, as well as several examples of how neuroimaging is currently being utilized in clinical research. The review then critically examines the strengths and limitations of neuroimaging for elucidating TBI-related microscopic pathology, such as microstructural changes, neuroinflammation, proteinopathies, blood-brain barrier damage, and disruptions in cellular signaling. A summary is then provided for how neuroimaging is currently being used to investigate TBI-related pathology in new-onset neurocognitive disorders, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Identified gaps in the literature include a lack of prospective studies to definitively associate imaging findings with the development of new-onset psychiatric disorders, as well as antemortem imaging studies subsequently confirmed with postmortem correlates in the same study cohort. Although the spatial resolution and specificity of imaging biomarkers has greatly improved over the last 2 decades, we conclude that neuroimaging biomarkers do not yet exist for the definitive in vivo diagnosis of cellular pathology. This represents a necessary next step for further elucidating causal relationships between TBI and new-onset psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R. Mayer
- The Mind Research Network/Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM 87106,Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131,Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131,Corresponding author: Andrew Mayer, Ph.D., The Mind Research Network, Pete & Nancy Domenici Hall, 1101 Yale Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106 USA; Tel: 505-272-0769; Fax: 505-272-8002;
| | - Davin K. Quinn
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM 87131
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10
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Stormezand GN, Doorduin J, Rakers SE, Spikman JM, van der Naalt J, García DV, van der Hoorn A, van der Weijden CWJ, Kremer BPH, Renken RJ, Dierckx RAJO. Imaging of neuroinflammation due to repetitive head injury in currently active kickboxers. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2022; 49:3162-3172. [PMID: 35165788 PMCID: PMC9250484 DOI: 10.1007/s00259-022-05715-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Purpose Chronic traumatic encephalopathy refers to a neurodegenerative disease resulting from repetitive head injury of participants in contact sports. Similar to other neurodegenerative diseases, neuroinflammation is thought to play a role in the onset and progression of the disease. Limited knowledge is available regarding the neuroinflammatory consequences of repetitive head injury in currently active contact sports athletes. PET imaging of the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) allows quantification of microglial activation in vivo, a marker of neuroinflammation. Methods Eleven rank A kickboxers and 11 age-matched controls underwent TSPO PET using [11C]-PK11195, anatomical MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and neuropsychological testing. Relevant imaging parameters were derived and correlated with the outcomes of the neuropsychological testing. Results On a group level, no statistically significant differences were detected in non-displaceable binding potential (BPND) using PET. Individually, 3 kickboxers showed increased BPNDs in widespread regions of the brain without a correlation with other modalities. Increased FA was observed in the superior corona radiata bilaterally. DTI parameters in other regions did not differ between groups. Conclusion Despite negative results on a group level, individual results suggest that neuroinflammation may be present as a consequence of repetitive head injury in active kickboxers. Future studies using a longitudinal design may determine whether the observed TSPO upregulation is related to the future development of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00259-022-05715-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gilles N Stormezand
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Medical Imaging Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Janine Doorduin
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Medical Imaging Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Sandra E Rakers
- Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jacoba M Spikman
- Department of Clinical Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Joukje van der Naalt
- Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - David Vállez García
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Medical Imaging Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anouk van der Hoorn
- Department of Radiology, Medical Imaging Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Chris W J van der Weijden
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Medical Imaging Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Berry P H Kremer
- Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Remco J Renken
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Rudi A J O Dierckx
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Medical Imaging Center, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands
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11
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Lunkova E, Guberman GI, Ptito A, Saluja RS. Noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging techniques in mild traumatic brain injury research and diagnosis. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:5477-5494. [PMID: 34427960 PMCID: PMC8519871 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2021] [Revised: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), frequently referred to as concussion, is one of the most common neurological disorders. The underlying neural mechanisms of functional disturbances in the brains of concussed individuals remain elusive. Novel forms of brain imaging have been developed to assess patients postconcussion, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), diffusion MRI (dMRI), and perfusion MRI [arterial spin labeling (ASL)], but results have been mixed with a more common utilization in the research environment and a slower integration into the clinical setting. In this review, the benefits and drawbacks of the methods are described: fMRI is an effective method in the diagnosis of concussion but it is expensive and time-consuming making it difficult for regular use in everyday practice; SWI allows detection of microhemorrhages in acute and chronic phases of concussion; dMRI is primarily used for the detection of white matter abnormalities, especially axonal injury, specific for mTBI; and ASL is an alternative to the BOLD method with its ability to track cerebral blood flow alterations. Thus, the absence of a universal diagnostic neuroimaging method suggests a need for the adoption of a multimodal approach to the neuroimaging of mTBI. Taken together, these methods, with their underlying functional and structural features, can contribute from different angles to a deeper understanding of mTBI mechanisms such that a comprehensive diagnosis of mTBI becomes feasible for the clinician.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina Lunkova
- Department of Neurology & NeurosurgeryMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
| | - Guido I. Guberman
- Department of Neurology & NeurosurgeryMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
| | - Alain Ptito
- Department of Neurology & NeurosurgeryMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
- Montreal Neurological InstituteMontrealQuebecCanada
- Department of PsychologyMcGill University Health CentreMontrealQuebecCanada
| | - Rajeet Singh Saluja
- Department of Neurology & NeurosurgeryMcGill UniversityMontrealQuebecCanada
- McGill University Health Centre Research InstituteMontrealQuebecCanada
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12
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Iverson GL, Büttner F, Caccese JB. Age of First Exposure to Contact and Collision Sports and Later in Life Brain Health: A Narrative Review. Front Neurol 2021; 12:727089. [PMID: 34659092 PMCID: PMC8511696 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.727089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
A controversial theory proposes that playing tackle football before the age of 12 causes later in life brain health problems. This theory arose from a small study of 42 retired National Football League (NFL) players, which reported that those who started playing tackle football at a younger age performed worse on selected neuropsychological tests and a word reading test. The authors concluded that these differences were likely due to greater exposure to repetitive neurotrauma during a developmentally sensitive maturational period in their lives. Several subsequent studies of current high school and collegiate contact/collision sports athletes, and former high school, collegiate, and professional tackle football players have not replicated these findings. This narrative review aims to (i) discuss the fundamental concepts, issues, and controversies surrounding existing research on age of first exposure (AFE) to contact/collision sport, and (ii) provide a balanced interpretation, including risk of bias assessment findings, of this body of evidence. Among 21 studies, 11 studies examined former athletes, 8 studies examined current athletes, and 2 studies examined both former and current athletes. Although the literature on whether younger AFE to tackle football is associated with later in life cognitive, neurobehavioral, or mental health problems in former NFL players is mixed, the largest study of retired NFL players (N = 3,506) suggested there was not a significant association between earlier AFE to organized tackle football and worse subjectively experienced cognitive functioning, depression, or anxiety. Furthermore, no published studies of current athletes show a significant association between playing tackle football (or other contact/collision sports) before the age of 12 and cognitive, neurobehavioral, or mental health problems. It is important to note that all studies were judged to be at high overall risk of bias, indicating that more methodologically rigorous research is needed to understand whether there is an association between AFE to contact/collision sports and later in life brain health. The accumulated research to date suggests that earlier AFE to contact/collision sports is not associated with worse cognitive functioning or mental health in (i) current high school athletes, (ii) current collegiate athletes, or (iii) middle-aged men who played high school football. The literature on former NFL players is mixed and does not, at present, clearly support the theory that exposure to tackle football before age 12 is associated with later in life cognitive impairment or mental health problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grant L. Iverson
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Spaulding Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Charlestown, MA, United States
- Sports Concussion Program, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Boston, MA, United States
- Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Fionn Büttner
- School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jaclyn B. Caccese
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, United States
- Chronic Brain Injury Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
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13
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Amen DG, Wu J, George N, Newberg A. Patterns of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow as a Function of Obesity in Adults. J Alzheimers Dis 2021; 77:1331-1337. [PMID: 32773393 PMCID: PMC7683049 DOI: 10.3233/jad-200655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Background: While obesity has been shown to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, the potential mechanisms underlying this risk may be clarified with better understanding of underlying physiology in obese persons. Objective: To identify patterns of cerebral perfusion abnormality in adults as a function of body mass index (BMI) defined weight categories, including overweight or obese status. Methods: A large psychiatric cohort of 35,442 brain scans across 17,721 adults (mean age 40.8±16.2 years, range 18–94 years) were imaged with SPECT during baseline and concentration scans, the latter done after each participant completed the Connors Continuous Performance Test II. ANOVA was done to identify patterns of perfusion abnormality in this cohort across BMI designations of underweight (BMI < 18.5), normal weight (BMI = 18.5 to 24.9), overweight (BMI 24.9 to 29.9), obesity (BMI≥30), and morbid obesity (BMI≥40). This analysis was done for 128 brain regions quantifying SPECT perfusion using the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) atlas. Results: Across adulthood, higher BMI correlated with decreased perfusion on both resting and concentration brain SPECT scans. These are seen in virtually all brain regions, including those influenced by AD pathology such as the hippocampus. Conclusion: Greater BMI is associated with cerebral perfusion decreases in both resting and concentration SPECT scans across adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Andrew Newberg
- Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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14
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Alosco ML, Mariani ML, Adler CH, Balcer LJ, Bernick C, Au R, Banks SJ, Barr WB, Bouix S, Cantu RC, Coleman MJ, Dodick DW, Farrer LA, Geda YE, Katz DI, Koerte IK, Kowall NW, Lin AP, Marcus DS, Marek KL, McClean MD, McKee AC, Mez J, Palmisano JN, Peskind ER, Tripodis Y, Turner RW, Wethe JV, Cummings JL, Reiman EM, Shenton ME, Stern RA. Developing methods to detect and diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy during life: rationale, design, and methodology for the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project. Alzheimers Res Ther 2021; 13:136. [PMID: 34384490 PMCID: PMC8357968 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-021-00872-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease that has been neuropathologically diagnosed in brain donors exposed to repetitive head impacts, including boxers and American football, soccer, ice hockey, and rugby players. CTE cannot yet be diagnosed during life. In December 2015, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded a seven-year grant (U01NS093334) to fund the "Diagnostics, Imaging, and Genetics Network for the Objective Study and Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (DIAGNOSE CTE) Research Project." The objectives of this multicenter project are to: develop in vivo fluid and neuroimaging biomarkers for CTE; characterize its clinical presentation; refine and validate clinical research diagnostic criteria (i.e., traumatic encephalopathy syndrome [TES]); examine repetitive head impact exposure, genetic, and other risk factors; and provide shared resources of anonymized data and biological samples to the research community. In this paper, we provide a detailed overview of the rationale, design, and methods for the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project. METHODS The targeted sample and sample size was 240 male participants, ages 45-74, including 120 former professional football players, 60 former collegiate football players, and 60 asymptomatic participants without a history of head trauma or participation in organized contact sports. Participants were evaluated at one of four U.S. sites and underwent the following baseline procedures: neurological and neuropsychological examinations; tau and amyloid positron emission tomography; magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy; lumbar puncture; blood and saliva collection; and standardized self-report measures of neuropsychiatric, cognitive, and daily functioning. Study partners completed similar informant-report measures. Follow-up evaluations were intended to be in-person and at 3 years post-baseline. Multidisciplinary diagnostic consensus conferences are held, and the reliability and validity of TES diagnostic criteria are examined. RESULTS Participant enrollment and all baseline evaluations were completed in February 2020. Three-year follow-up evaluations began in October 2019. However, in-person evaluation ceased with the COVID-19 pandemic, and resumed as remote, 4-year follow-up evaluations (including telephone-, online-, and videoconference-based cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and neurologic examinations, as well as in-home blood draw) in February 2021. CONCLUSIONS Findings from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project should facilitate detection and diagnosis of CTE during life, and thereby accelerate research on risk factors, mechanisms, epidemiology, treatment, and prevention of CTE. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT02798185.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L Alosco
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Megan L Mariani
- Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Charles H Adler
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
| | - Laura J Balcer
- Departments of Neurology, Population Health and Ophthalmology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Charles Bernick
- Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas, NV, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Rhoda Au
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Framingham Heart Study, and Slone Epidemiology Center, Boston, MA, USA
- Departments of Anatomy & Neurobiology and Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sarah J Banks
- Departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - William B Barr
- Department of Neurology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sylvain Bouix
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert C Cantu
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael J Coleman
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David W Dodick
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
| | - Lindsay A Farrer
- Departments of Medicine (Biomedical Genetics), Neurology, Ophthalmology, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics, BU Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yonas E Geda
- Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Program, Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Douglas I Katz
- Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- Encompass Health Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, Braintree, MA, USA
| | - Inga K Koerte
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- cBRAIN, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, Ludwigs-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Neil W Kowall
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alexander P Lin
- Center for Clinical Spectroscopy, Department of Radiology, Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel S Marcus
- Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Kenneth L Marek
- Institute for Neurodegenerative Disorders, Invicro, LLC, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Michael D McClean
- Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ann C McKee
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jesse Mez
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Framingham Heart Study, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joseph N Palmisano
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center (BEDAC), Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Elaine R Peskind
- VA Northwest Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Yorghos Tripodis
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert W Turner
- Department of Clinical Research & Leadership, The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Jennifer V Wethe
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
| | - Jeffrey L Cummings
- Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience, Department of Brain Health, School of Integrated Health Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Eric M Reiman
- Banner Alzheimer's Institute, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Translational Genomics Research Institute, and Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Martha E Shenton
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory, Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert A Stern
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Departments of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
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15
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Lynch CE, Eisenbaum M, Algamal M, Balbi M, Ferguson S, Mouzon B, Saltiel N, Ojo J, Diaz-Arrastia R, Mullan M, Crawford F, Bachmeier C. Impairment of cerebrovascular reactivity in response to hypercapnic challenge in a mouse model of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2021; 41:1362-1378. [PMID: 33050825 PMCID: PMC8142124 DOI: 10.1177/0271678x20954015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Incidences of repetitive mild TBI (r-mTBI), like those sustained by contact sports athletes and military personnel, are thought to be a risk factor for development of neurodegenerative disorders. Those suffering from chronic TBI-related illness demonstrate deficits in cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), the ability of the cerebral vasculature to respond to a vasoactive stimulus. CVR is thus an important measure of traumatic cerebral vascular injury (TCVI), and a possible in vivo endophenotype of TBI-related neuropathogenesis. We combined laser speckle imaging of CVR in response to hypercapnic challenge with neurobehavioral assessment of learning and memory, to investigate if decreased cerebrovascular responsiveness underlies impaired cognitive function in our mouse model of chronic r-mTBI. We demonstrate a profile of blunted hypercapnia-evoked CVR in the cortices of r-mTBI mice like that of human TBI, alongside sustained memory and learning impairment, without biochemical or immunohistopathological signs of cerebral vessel laminar or endothelium constituent loss. Transient decreased expression of alpha smooth muscle actin and platelet-derived growth factor receptor β, indicative of TCVI, is obvious only at the time of the most pronounced CVR deficit. These findings implicate CVR as a valid preclinical measure of TCVI, perhaps useful for developing therapies targeting TCVI after recurrent mild head trauma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cillian E Lynch
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.,James A. Haley Veteran's Administration, Tampa, FL, USA.,Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Maxwell Eisenbaum
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Moustafa Algamal
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Matilde Balbi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Scott Ferguson
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Benoit Mouzon
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.,James A. Haley Veteran's Administration, Tampa, FL, USA
| | | | - Joseph Ojo
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.,James A. Haley Veteran's Administration, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Ramon Diaz-Arrastia
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Mike Mullan
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
| | - Fiona Crawford
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.,James A. Haley Veteran's Administration, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Corbin Bachmeier
- The Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, USA.,Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.,Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, Bay Pines, FL, USA
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16
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Asken BM, Rabinovici GD. Identifying degenerative effects of repetitive head trauma with neuroimaging: a clinically-oriented review. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2021; 9:96. [PMID: 34022959 PMCID: PMC8141132 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-021-01197-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF REVIEW Varying severities and frequencies of head trauma may result in dynamic acute and chronic pathophysiologic responses in the brain. Heightened attention to long-term effects of head trauma, particularly repetitive head trauma, has sparked recent efforts to identify neuroimaging biomarkers of underlying disease processes. Imaging modalities like structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) are the most clinically applicable given their use in neurodegenerative disease diagnosis and differentiation. In recent years, researchers have targeted repetitive head trauma cohorts in hopes of identifying in vivo biomarkers for underlying biologic changes that might ultimately improve diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living persons. These populations most often include collision sport athletes (e.g., American football, boxing) and military veterans with repetitive low-level blast exposure. We provide a clinically-oriented review of neuroimaging data from repetitive head trauma cohorts based on structural MRI, FDG-PET, Aβ-PET, and tau-PET. We supplement the review with two patient reports of neuropathology-confirmed, clinically impaired adults with prior repetitive head trauma who underwent structural MRI, FDG-PET, Aβ-PET, and tau-PET in addition to comprehensive clinical examinations before death. REVIEW CONCLUSIONS Group-level comparisons to controls without known head trauma have revealed inconsistent regional volume differences, with possible propensity for medial temporal, limbic, and subcortical (thalamus, corpus callosum) structures. Greater frequency and severity (i.e., length) of cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) is observed in repetitive head trauma cohorts compared to unexposed controls. It remains unclear whether CSP predicts a particular neurodegenerative process, but CSP presence should increase suspicion that clinical impairment is at least partly attributable to the individual's head trauma exposure (regardless of underlying disease). PET imaging similarly has not revealed a prototypical metabolic or molecular pattern associated with repetitive head trauma or predictive of CTE based on the most widely studied radiotracers. Given the range of clinical syndromes and neurodegenerative pathologies observed in a subset of adults with prior repetitive head trauma, structural MRI and PET imaging may still be useful for differential diagnosis (e.g., assessing suspected Alzheimer's disease).
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Affiliation(s)
- Breton M. Asken
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, Suite 190, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA
| | - Gil D. Rabinovici
- Departments of Neurology, Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, Memory and Aging Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, 675 Nelson Rising Lane, Suite 190, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA
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17
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Alosco ML, Culhane J, Mez J. Neuroimaging Biomarkers of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: Targets for the Academic Memory Disorders Clinic. Neurotherapeutics 2021; 18:772-791. [PMID: 33847906 PMCID: PMC8423967 DOI: 10.1007/s13311-021-01028-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with exposure to repetitive head impacts, such as those from contact sports. The pathognomonic lesion for CTE is the perivascular accumulation of hyper-phosphorylated tau in neurons and other cell process at the depths of sulci. CTE cannot be diagnosed during life at this time, limiting research on risk factors, mechanisms, epidemiology, and treatment. There is an urgent need for in vivo biomarkers that can accurately detect CTE and differentiate it from other neurological disorders. Neuroimaging is an integral component of the clinical evaluation of neurodegenerative diseases and will likely aid in diagnosing CTE during life. In this qualitative review, we present the current evidence on neuroimaging biomarkers for CTE with a focus on molecular, structural, and functional modalities routinely used as part of a dementia evaluation. Supporting imaging-pathological correlation studies are also presented. We targeted neuroimaging studies of living participants at high risk for CTE (e.g., aging former elite American football players, fighters). We conclude that an optimal tau PET radiotracer with high affinity for the 3R/4R neurofibrillary tangles in CTE has not yet been identified. Amyloid PET scans have tended to be negative. Converging structural and functional imaging evidence together with neuropathological evidence show frontotemporal and medial temporal lobe neurodegeneration, and increased likelihood for a cavum septum pellucidum. The literature offers promising neuroimaging biomarker targets of CTE, but it is limited by cross-sectional studies of small samples where the presence of underlying CTE is unknown. Imaging-pathological correlation studies will be important for the development and validation of neuroimaging biomarkers of CTE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L Alosco
- Department of Neurology, Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 E Concord St, Suite B7800, MA, 02118, Boston, USA.
| | - Julia Culhane
- Department of Neurology, Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 E Concord St, Suite B7800, MA, 02118, Boston, USA
| | - Jesse Mez
- Department of Neurology, Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Boston University CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 E Concord St, Suite B7800, MA, 02118, Boston, USA
- Framingham Heart Study, Boston University School of Medicine, MA, Boston, USA
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18
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Sparks P, Lawrence T, Hinze S. Neuroimaging in the Diagnosis of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: A Systematic Review. Clin J Sport Med 2020; 30 Suppl 1:S1-S10. [PMID: 32132472 DOI: 10.1097/jsm.0000000000000541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative tauopathy associated with repeated subconcussive and concussive head injury. Clinical features include cognitive, behavioral, mood, and motor impairments. Definitive diagnosis is only possible at postmortem. Here, the utility of neuroimaging in the diagnosis of CTE is evaluated by systematically reviewing recent evidence for changes in neuroimaging biomarkers in suspected cases of CTE compared with controls. DATA SOURCES Providing an update on a previous systematic review of articles published until December 2014, we searched for articles published between December 2014 and July 2016. We searched PubMed for studies assessing neuroimaging changes in symptomatic suspected cases of CTE with a history of repeated subconcussive or concussive head injury or participation in contact sports involving direct impact to the head. Exclusion criteria were case studies, review articles, and articles focusing on repetitive head trauma from military service, head banging, epilepsy, physical abuse, or animal models. MAIN RESULTS Seven articles met the review criteria, almost all of which studied professional athletes. The range of modalities were categorized into structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion MRI, and radionuclide studies. Biomarkers which differed significantly between suspected CTE and controls were Evans index (P = 0.05), cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) rate (P < 0.0006), length (P < 0.03) and ratio of CSP length to septum length (P < 0.03), regional differences in axial diffusivity (P < 0.05) and free/intracellular water fractions (P < 0.005), single-photon emission computed tomography perfusion abnormalities (P < 0.01), positron emission tomography (PET) signals from tau-binding, glucose-binding, and GABA receptor-binding radionuclides (P < 0.0001, P < 0.005, and P < 0.005, respectively). Important limitations include low specificity in identification of suspected cases of CTE across studies, the need for postmortem validation, and a lack of generalizability to nonprofessional athletes. CONCLUSIONS The most promising biomarker is tau-binding radionuclide PET signal because it is most specific to the underlying neuropathology and differentiated CTE from both controls and patients with Alzheimer disease (P < 0.0001). Multimodal imaging will improve specificity further. Future research should minimize variability in identification of suspected cases of CTE using published clinical criteria.
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19
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A novel repetitive head impact exposure measurement tool differentiates player position in National Football League. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1200. [PMID: 31992719 PMCID: PMC6987098 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-54874-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
American-style football participation poses a high risk of repetitive head impact (RHI) exposure leading to acute and chronic brain injury. The complex nature of symptom expression, human predisposition, and neurological consequences of RHI limits our understanding of what constitutes as an injurious impact affecting the integrity of brain tissue. Video footage of professional football games was reviewed and documentation made of all head contact. Frequency of impact, tissue strain magnitude, and time interval between impacts was used to quantify RHI exposure, specific to player field position. Differences in exposure characteristics were found between eight different positions; where three unique profiles can be observed. Exposure profiles provide interpretation of the relationship between the traumatic event(s) and how tissue injury is manifested and expressed. This study illustrates and captures an objective measurement of RHI on the field, a critical component in guiding public policy and guidelines for managing exposure.
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20
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Cunningham J, Broglio SP, O'Grady M, Wilson F. History of Sport-Related Concussion and Long-Term Clinical Cognitive Health Outcomes in Retired Athletes: A Systematic Review. J Athl Train 2020; 55:132-158. [PMID: 31935139 DOI: 10.4085/1062-6050-297-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sport-related concussions (SRCs) are known to have short-term effects on cognitive processes, which can result in diverse clinical presentations. The long-term effects of SRC and repeated exposure to head impacts that do not result in SRC on specific cognitive health outcomes remain unclear. OBJECTIVES To synthesize and appraise the evidence base regarding cognitive health in living retired athletes with a history of head-impact exposure or SRC. DATA SOURCES A systematic search of the EMBASE, PsycINFO, MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science databases was conducted from inception to April 2018 using common key words and medical subject headings related to 3 components: (1) the participant (eg, retired athlete), (2) the primary outcome measure (eg, cognitive test used), and (3) the secondary outcome measure (eg, history of sport concussion). STUDY SELECTION Cross-sectional studies of living retired male or female athletes in which at least 1 cognitive test was used as an outcome measure were included. Two reviewers independently screened studies. DATA EXTRACTION Data extraction was performed using Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. Methodologic quality was assessed independently by 2 reviewers using the Downs and Black tool. DATA SYNTHESIS The search yielded 46 cross-sectional observational studies that were included in a qualitative synthesis. Most included studies (80%, n = 37) were published in the 5 years before our review. A large proportion of these studies (n = 20) included retired American National Football League players. The other research investigated professional, university, high school, and amateur retired athletes participating in sports such as American and Australian football, boxing, field and ice hockey, rugby, and soccer. The total sample consisted of 13 975 participants: 7387 collision-sport athletes, 662 contact-sport athletes, 3346 noncontact-sport athletes, and 2580 participants classified as controls. Compared with control participants or normative data, retired athletes displayed worse performance in 17 of 31 studies (55%) of memory, 6 of 11 studies (55%) of executive function, and 4 of 6 studies (67%) of psychomotor function and increased subjective concerns about cognitive function in 11 of 14 studies (79%). The authors of 13 of 46 investigations (28%) reported a frequency-response relationship, with poorer cognitive outcomes in athletes who had greater levels of exposure to head impacts or concussions. However, these results must be interpreted in light of the lack of methodologic rigor and moderate quality assessment of the included studies. CONCLUSIONS Evidence of poorer cognitive health among retired athletes with a history of concussion and head-impact exposure is evolving. Our results suggest that a history of SRC may more greatly affect the cognitive domains of memory, executive function, and psychomotor function. Retired athletes appeared to have increased self-reported cognitive difficulties, but the paucity of high-quality, prospective studies limited the conclusions that could be drawn regarding a cause-and-effect relationship between concussion and long-term health outcomes. Future researchers should consider a range of cognitive health outcomes, as well as premorbid ability, in diverse samples of athletes with or without a history of concussion or head-impact exposure to delineate the long-term effects of sport participation on cognitive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joice Cunningham
- Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Megan O'Grady
- Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Fiona Wilson
- Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
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Alosco ML, Stein TD, Tripodis Y, Chua AS, Kowall NW, Huber BR, Goldstein LE, Cantu RC, Katz DI, Palmisano JN, Martin B, Cherry JD, Mahar I, Killiany RJ, McClean MD, Au R, Alvarez V, Stern RA, Mez J, McKee AC. Association of White Matter Rarefaction, Arteriolosclerosis, and Tau With Dementia in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. JAMA Neurol 2019; 76:1298-1308. [PMID: 31380975 PMCID: PMC6686769 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.2244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repetitive head impacts, including those from US football, that presents with cognitive and neuropsychiatric disturbances that can progress to dementia. Pathways to dementia in CTE are unclear and likely involve tau and nontau pathologic conditions. OBJECTIVE To investigate the association of white matter rarefaction and cerebrovascular disease with dementia in deceased men older than 40 years who played football and had CTE. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study involves analyses of data from the ongoing Understanding Neurologic Injury and Traumatic Encephalopathy (UNITE) Study, which is conducted via and included brain donors from the Veterans Affairs-Boston University-Concussion Legacy Foundation brain bank between 2008 and 2017. An original sample of 224 men who had played football and were neuropathologically diagnosed with CTE was reduced after exclusion of those younger than 40 years and those missing data. EXPOSURES The number of years of football play as a proxy for repetitive head impacts. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Neuropathological assessment of white matter rarefaction and arteriolosclerosis severity (on a scale of 0-3, where 3 is severe); number of infarcts, microinfarcts, and microbleeds; and phosphorylated tau accumulation determined by CTE stage and semiquantitative rating of dorsolateral frontal cortex (DLFC) neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) (none or mild vs moderate or severe). Informant-based retrospective clinical interviews determined dementia diagnoses via diagnostic consensus conferences. RESULTS A total of 180 men were included. The mean (SD) age of the sample at death was 67.9 (12.7) years. Of 180, 120 [66.7%]) were found to have had dementia prior to death. Moderate to severe white matter rarefaction (84 of 180 [46.6%]) and arteriolosclerosis (85 of 180 [47.2%]) were common; infarcts, microinfarcts, and microbleeds were not. A simultaneous equations regression model controlling for age and race showed that more years of play was associated with more severe white matter rarefaction (β, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.02-0.29]; P = .03) and greater phosphorylated tau accumulation (DLFC NFTs: β, 0.15 [95% CI, 0.004-0.30]; P = .04; CTE stage: β, 0.27 [95% CI, 0.14-0.41]; P < .001). White matter rarefaction (β, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.02-0.29]; P = .03) and DLFC NFTs (β, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.03-0.28]; P = .01) were associated with dementia. Arteriolosclerosis and years of play were not associated, but arteriolosclerosis was independently associated with dementia (β, 0.21 [95% CI, 0.07-0.35]; P = .003). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among older men who had played football and had CTE, more years of football play were associated with more severe white matter rarefaction and greater DLFC NFT burden. White matter rarefaction, arteriolosclerosis, and DLFC NFTs were independently associated with dementia. Dementia in CTE is likely a result of neuropathologic changes, including white matter rarefaction and phosphorylated tau, associated with repetitive head impact and pathologic changes not associated with head trauma, such as arteriolosclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael L. Alosco
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Thor D. Stein
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts
- Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bedford, Massachusetts
| | - Yorghos Tripodis
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Alicia S. Chua
- Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Neil W. Kowall
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Bertrand Russell Huber
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts
- National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, VA Boston Healthcare, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Lee E. Goldstein
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Boston University College of Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Ophthalmology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University College of Engineering, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Robert C. Cantu
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Concussion Legacy Foundation, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Neurosurgery, Emerson Hospital, Concord, Massachusetts
| | - Douglas I. Katz
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital, Braintree, Massachusetts
| | - Joseph N. Palmisano
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Brett Martin
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Jonathan D. Cherry
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ian Mahar
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ronald J. Killiany
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Center for Biomedical Imaging, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Michael D. McClean
- Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Rhoda Au
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Framingham Heart Study, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Victor Alvarez
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Robert A. Stern
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Jesse Mez
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Ann C. McKee
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts
- Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bedford, Massachusetts
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Zivadinov R, Polak P, Schweser F, Bergsland N, Hagemeier J, Dwyer MG, Ramasamy DP, Baker JG, Leddy JJ, Willer BS. Multimodal Imaging of Retired Professional Contact Sport Athletes Does Not Provide Evidence of Structural and Functional Brain Damage. J Head Trauma Rehabil 2019; 33:E24-E32. [PMID: 30080799 DOI: 10.1097/htr.0000000000000422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Long-term consequences of playing professional football and hockey on brain function and structural neuronal integrity are unknown. OBJECTIVES To investigate multimodal metabolic and structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) differences in retired professional contact sport athletes compared with noncontact sport athletes. METHODS Twenty-one male contact sport athletes and 21 age-matched noncontact sport athletes were scanned on a 3 tesla (3T) MRI using a multimodal imaging approach. The MRI outcomes included presence, number, and volume of focal white matter signal abnormalities, volumes of global and regional tissue-specific brain structures, diffusion-tensor imaging tract-based spatial statistics measures of mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy, quantitative susceptibility mapping of deep gray matter, presence, number, and volume of cerebral microbleeds, MR spectroscopy N-acetyl-aspartate, glutamate, and glutamine concentrations relative to creatine and phosphor creatine of the corpus callosum, and perfusion-weighted imaging mean transit time, cerebral blood flow, and cerebral blood volume outcomes. Subjects were also classified as having mild cognitive impairment. RESULTS No significant differences were found for structural or functional MRI measures between contact sport athletes and noncontact sport athletes. CONCLUSIONS This multimodal imaging study did not show any microstructural, metabolic brain tissue injury differences in retired contact versus non-contact sport athletes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Zivadinov
- Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Department of Neurology (Drs Zivadinov, Polak, Schweser, Bergsland, Hagemeier, Dwyer, and Ramasamy), MR Imaging Clinical and Translational Research Center (Drs Zivadinov and Schweser), Department of Orthopaedics (Drs Baker and Leddy), Department of Nuclear Medicine (Dr Baker), and Department of Psychiatry (Dr Willer), Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo
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Pavlovic D, Pekic S, Stojanovic M, Popovic V. Traumatic brain injury: neuropathological, neurocognitive and neurobehavioral sequelae. Pituitary 2019; 22:270-282. [PMID: 30929221 DOI: 10.1007/s11102-019-00957-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 159] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes substantial neurological disabilities and mental distress. Annual TBI incidence is in magnitude of millions, making it a global health challenge. Categorization of TBI into severe, moderate and mild by scores on the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) is based on clinical grounds and standard brain imaging (CT). Recent research focused on repeated mild TBI (sport and non-sport concussions) suggests that a considerable number of patients have long-term disabling neurocognitive and neurobehavioral sequelae. These relate to subtle neuronal injury (diffuse axonal injury) visible only by using advanced neuroimaging distinguishing microstructural tissue damage. With advanced MRI protocols better characterization of TBI is achievable. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) visualizes white matter pathology, susceptibility weight imaging (SWI) detects microscopic bleeding while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides closer understanding of cognitive disorders etc. However, advanced imaging is still not integrated in the clinical care of patients with TBI. Patients with chronic TBI may experience many somatic disorders, cognitive disturbances and mental complaints. The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms occurring in TBI are complex, brain injuries are highly heterogeneous and include neuroendocrine dysfunctions. Post-traumatic neuroendocrine dysfunctions received attention since the year 2000. Occurrence of TBI-related hypopituitarism does not correlate to severity of the GCS scores. Complete or partial hypopituitarism (isolated growth hormone (GH) deficiency as most frequent) may occur after mild TBI equally as after moderate-to-severe TBI. Many symptoms of hypopituitarism overlap with symptoms occurring in patients with chronic TBI, i.e. they have lower scores on neuropsychological examinations (cognitive disability) and have more symptoms of mental distress (depression and fatigue). The great challenges for the endocrinologist are: (1) detection of hypopituitarism in patients with TBI prospectively (in the acute phase and months to years after TBI), (2) assessment of the extent of cognitive impairment at baseline, and (3) monitoring of treatment effects (alteration of cognitive functioning and mental distress with hormone replacement therapy). Only few studies recently suggest that with growth hormone (rhGH) replacement in patients with chronic TBI and with abnormal GH secretion, cognitive performance may not change while symptoms related to depression and fatigue improve. Stagnation in post-TBI rehabilitation progress is recommended as a signal for clinical suspicion of neuroendocrine dysfunction. This remains a challenging area for more research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dragan Pavlovic
- Faculty for Special Education and Rehabilitation, University of Belgrade, Visokog Stevana 2, Belgrade, 11 000, Serbia
| | - Sandra Pekic
- Neuroendocrinology Department, Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Dr Subotica 13, Belgrade, Serbia
- Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, Dr Subotica 8, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia
| | - Marko Stojanovic
- Neuroendocrinology Department, Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Dr Subotica 13, Belgrade, Serbia
- Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, Dr Subotica 8, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia
| | - Vera Popovic
- Medical Faculty, University of Belgrade, Dr Subotica 8, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia.
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24
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Imaging of traumatic brain injury. Dis Mon 2019; 65:100856. [PMID: 30819435 DOI: 10.1016/j.disamonth.2019.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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25
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Satarasinghe P, Hamilton DK, Buchanan RJ, Koltz MT. Unifying Pathophysiological Explanations for Sports-Related Concussion and Concussion Protocol Management: Literature Review. J Exp Neurosci 2019; 13:1179069518824125. [PMID: 30675103 PMCID: PMC6330734 DOI: 10.1177/1179069518824125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective There is a plethora of theories about the pathophysiology behind a sport-related concussion. In this review of the literature, the authors evaluated studies on the pathophysiology of sport-related concussion and professional athlete return-to-play guidelines. The goal of this article is to summarize the most common hypotheses for sport-related concussion, evaluate if there are common underlying mechanisms, and determine if correlations are seen between published mechanisms and the most current return-to-play recommendations. Methods Two authors selected papers from the past 5 years for literature review involving discussion of sport-related concussion and pathophysiology, pathology, or physiology of concussion using mutually agreed-upon search criteria. After the articles were filtered based on search criteria, pathophysiological explanations for concussion were organized into tables. Following analysis of pathophysiology, concussion protocols and return-to-play guidelines were obtained via a Google search for the major professional sports leagues and synthesized into a summary table. Results Out of 1112 initially identified publications, 53 met our criteria for qualitative analysis. The 53 studies revealed 5 primary neuropathological explanations for sport-related concussion, regardless of the many theories talked about in the different papers. These 5 explanations, in order of predominance in the articles analyzed, were (1) tauopathy, (2) white matter changes, (3) neural connectivity alterations, (4) reduction in cerebral perfusion, and (5) gray matter atrophy. Pathology may be sport specific: white matter changes are seen in 47% of football reports, tauopathy is seen in 50% of hockey reports, and soccer reports 50% tauopathy as well as 50% neural connectivity alterations. Analysis of the return-to-play guidelines across professional sports indicated commonalities in concussion management despite individual policies. Conclusions Current evidence on pathophysiology for sport-related concussion does not yet support one unifying mechanism, but published hypotheses may potentially be simplified into 5 primary groups. The unification of the complex, likely multifactorial mechanisms for sport-related concussion to a few common explanations, combined with unique findings within individual sports presented in this report, may help filter and link concussion pathophysiology in sport. By doing so, the authors hope that this review will help guide future concussion research, treatment, and management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Praveen Satarasinghe
- Department of Neurosurgery, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - D Kojo Hamilton
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Robert J Buchanan
- Department of Neurosurgery, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seton Brain and Spine Institute, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Michael T Koltz
- Department of Neurosurgery, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Neurosurgery, Seton Brain and Spine Institute, Austin, TX, USA
- Michael T Koltz, Department of Neurosurgery, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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26
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Ojo JO, Algamal M, Leary P, Abdullah L, Mouzon B, Evans JE, Mullan M, Crawford F. Disruption in Brain Phospholipid Content in a Humanized Tau Transgenic Model Following Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Front Neurosci 2018; 12:893. [PMID: 30564087 PMCID: PMC6288299 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a risk factor for the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy typified by immunoreactive tau aggregates in the depths of the sulci. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms involved have not been largely explored. Phospholipids are important molecules which form membrane lipid bilayers; they are ubiquitous to every cell in the brain, and carry out a host of different functions. Imbalance in phospholipid metabolism, signaling and transport has been documented in some neurological conditions. However, not much is currently known about their roles in repetitive mTBI and how this may confer risk for the development of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. To address this question, we designed a longitudinal study (24 h, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-injury) to comprehensively investigate mTBI dependent brain phospholipid profiles compared to sham counterparts. We use our established mouse model of repetitive mTBI that has been extensively characterized up to 1-year post-injury in humanized tau (hTau) mice, which expresses all six human tau isoforms, on a null murine background. Our data indicates a significant increase in sphingomyelin, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylcholine (PC), and derivative lysoPE and lysoPC at acute and/or sub-acute time points post-injury within the cortex and hippocampus. There was also a parallel increase at early time points in monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids. Omega-6 (arachidonic acid) to omega-3 (docosahexaenoic acid) fatty acid ratio for PE and PC species was increased also at 24 h and 3 months post-injury in both hippocampus and cortex. The long-term consequences of these early changes in phospholipids on neuronal and non-neuronal cell function is unclear, and warrants further study. Understanding phospholipid metabolism, signaling and transport following TBI could be valuable; they may offer novel targets for therapeutic intervention not only in TBI but other neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph O. Ojo
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
- James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Tampa, FL, United States
- The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Moustafa Algamal
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
- The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Paige Leary
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
| | - Laila Abdullah
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
- James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Tampa, FL, United States
- The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Benoit Mouzon
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
- The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - James E. Evans
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
| | - Michael Mullan
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
- The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona Crawford
- Experimental Neuropathology and Omics Laboratory, Roskamp Institute, Sarasota, FL, United States
- James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Tampa, FL, United States
- The School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
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Bigler ED. Structural neuroimaging in sport-related concussion. Int J Psychophysiol 2018; 132:105-123. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2017] [Revised: 09/03/2017] [Accepted: 09/07/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Raji CA, Henderson TA. PET and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography in Brain Concussion. Neuroimaging Clin N Am 2018; 28:67-82. [PMID: 29157854 DOI: 10.1016/j.nic.2017.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
This article offers an overview of the application of PET and single photon emission computed tomography brain imaging to concussion, a type of mild traumatic brain injury and traumatic brain injury, in general. The article reviews the application of these neuronuclear imaging modalities in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Additionally, this article frames the current literature with an overview of the basic physics and radiation exposure risks of each modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyrus A Raji
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, UCSF China Basin, 185 Berry Street, Suite 350, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Theodore A Henderson
- The Synaptic Space Inc, Neuro-Laser Foundation, Neuro-Luminance Brain Health Centers Inc, Dr. Theodore Henderson Inc, 3979 East Arapahoe Road, Suite 200, Centennial, CO 80122, USA.
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Tharmaratnam T, Iskandar MA, Tabobondung TC, Tobbia I, Gopee-Ramanan P, Tabobondung TA. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Professional American Football Players: Where Are We Now? Front Neurol 2018; 9:445. [PMID: 29971037 PMCID: PMC6018081 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2018] [Accepted: 05/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Repetitive head trauma provides a favorable milieu for the onset of inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes. The result of long-lasting head trauma is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease process well-recognized in boxers, military personnel, and more recently, in American football players. CTE is a chronic neurodegenerative disease with hallmarks of hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) aggregates and intercellular lesions of neurofibrillary tangles. The criteria for CTE diagnosis requires at least 1-2 focal perivascular lesions of p-tau in the cerebral cortex, at the depth of the sulci. These pathognomonic lesions aggregate within neurons and glial cells such as astrocytes, and cell processes within the vicinity of small blood vessels. CTE presents in a distinct topographical distribution pattern compared to other tauopathies such as AD and other age-related astrogliopathies. CTE also has an insidious onset, years after repetitive head trauma. The disease course of CTE is characterized by cognitive dysfunction, behavioral changes, and can progress to altered motor function with parkinsonian-like manifestations in later stages. This short review aims to summarize CTE in professional football, epidemiology, diagnosis based on neuroanatomical abnormalities, cognitive degeneration, and adverse mental health effects, as well as gaps in the literature and future directions in diagnostics, therapeutics, and preventive measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tharmegan Tharmaratnam
- School of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
- School of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain, Al Muharraq, Bahrain
| | - Mina A. Iskandar
- School of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Tyler C. Tabobondung
- Department of Family Medicine, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Brantford General Hospital, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Iqdam Tobbia
- Department of Pathology and Clinical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain, Adliya, Bahrain
| | - Prasaanthan Gopee-Ramanan
- Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, Department of Radiology, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Taylor A. Tabobondung
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Mannes ZL, Waxenberg LB, Cottler LB, Perlstein WM, Burrell LE, Ferguson EG, Edwards ME, Ennis N. Prevalence and Correlates of Psychological Distress among Retired Elite Athletes: A Systematic Review. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 12:265-294. [PMID: 31217807 PMCID: PMC6583001 DOI: 10.1080/1750984x.2018.1469162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2017] [Accepted: 04/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This article presents results of a systematic review of the literature (2000-2017) examining the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress among retired elite athletes. Forty articles were selected and included. Our review suggests the prevalence of psychological distress among retired athletes is similar to that found in the general population. However, subgroups reporting medical comorbidities, significant pain, a greater number of concussions, less social support, and adverse psychosocial factors were at greater risk for psychological distress. Additionally, athletes experiencing psychological distress in retirement often do not seek treatment for their distress. Based on the existing literature, there is a need for greater standardization and use of reliable measures, as well as use of diagnostic interviews in order to assess the most accurate prevalence of psychological distress among these athletes. Longitudinal designs, matched control groups, more heterogeneous samples, and use of multivariate analyses would also help to more accurately determine the prevalence and risk factors of psychological distress in this population. This review suggests a number of different clinical implications and highlights directions for future research to enhance our understanding of the long-term psychological health of former elite athletes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary L. Mannes
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Lori B. Waxenberg
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Linda B. Cottler
- Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professions & College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - William M. Perlstein
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Larry E. Burrell
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Erin G. Ferguson
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Mary E. Edwards
- Health Science Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Nicole Ennis
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
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Amen DG, Harris WS, Kidd PM, Meysami S, Raji CA. Quantitative Erythrocyte Omega-3 EPA Plus DHA Levels are Related to Higher Regional Cerebral Blood Flow on Brain SPECT. J Alzheimers Dis 2018; 58:1189-1199. [PMID: 28527220 DOI: 10.3233/jad-170281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The interrelationships between omega-3 fatty acids status, brain perfusion, and cognition are not well understood. OBJECTIVE To evaluate if SPECT brain imaging of cerebral perfusion and cognition varies as a function of omega-3 fatty acid levels. METHODS A random sample of 166 study participants was drawn from a psychiatric referral clinical for which erythrocyte quantification of omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (the Omega-3 Index) was available. Quantitative brain SPECT was done on 128 regions based on a standard anatomical Atlas. Persons with erythrocyte EPA+DHA concentrations were dichotomized based on membership in top 50th percentile versus bottom 50th percentile categories. Two-sample t-tests were done to identify statistically significant differences in perfusion between the percentile groups. Partial correlations were modeled between EPA+DHA concentration and SPECT regions. Neurocognitive status was assessed using computerized testing (WebNeuro) and was separately correlated to cerebral perfusion on brain SPECT imaging and omega-3 EPA+DHA levels. RESULTS Partial correlation analyses showed statistically significant relationships between higher omega-3 levels and cerebral perfusion were in the right parahippocampal gyrus (r = 0.20, p = 0.03), right precuneus (r = 0.20, p = 0.03), and vermis subregion 6 (p = 0.21, p = 0.03). Omega-3 Index levels separately correlated to the feeling subsection of the WebNeuro (r = 0.25, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION Quantitative omega-3 EPA+DHA erythrocyte concentrations are independently correlated with brain perfusion on SPECT imaging and neurocognitive tests. These results have implications for the role of omega-3 fatty acids toward contributing to cognitive reserve.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - William S Harris
- University of South Dakota School of Medicine, Vermillion, SD, USA
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Amen DG, Trujillo M, Keator D, Taylor DV, Willeumier K, Meysami S, Raji CA. Gender-Based Cerebral Perfusion Differences in 46,034 Functional Neuroimaging Scans. J Alzheimers Dis 2018; 60:605-614. [PMID: 28777753 DOI: 10.3233/jad-170432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies have reported that females have widespread increases in regional cerebral blood flow, but the studies were relatively small and inconsistent. OBJECTIVE Here we analyzed a healthy and a very large clinical psychiatric population to determine the effect of gender, using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). METHODS Whole brain and region of interest (ROI) gender differences were analyzed in a total of 46,034 SPECT scans at baseline and concentration. The sample included 119 healthy subjects and 26,683 patients (60.4% male, 39.6% female); a subset of 11,587 patients had complete diagnostic information. A total of 128 regions were analyzed according to the AAL Atlas, using ROI Extract and SPSS statistical software programs, controlling for age, diagnoses, and correcting for multiple comparisons. RESULTS Compared to males, healthy females showed significant whole brain (p < 0.01) and ROI increases in 65 baseline and 48 concentration regions (p < 0.01 corrected). Healthy males showed non-significant increases in 9 and 22 regions, respectively. In the clinical group, there were widespread significant increases in females, especially in the prefrontal and limbic regions, and specific increases in males in the inferior occipital lobes, inferior temporal lobes, and lobule 7 and Crus 2 of the cerebellum. These findings were replicated in the subset of 11,587 patients with the effect of diagnoses removed. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrated significant gender differences in a healthy and clinical population. Understanding these differences is crucial in evaluating functional neuroimaging and may be useful in understanding the epidemiological gender differences among psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Manuel Trujillo
- Department of Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - David Keator
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Brain Imaging Center, Irvine, CA, USA
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Amen DG, Krishnamani P, Meysami S, Newberg A, Raji CA. Classification of Depression, Cognitive Disorders, and Co-Morbid Depression and Cognitive Disorders with Perfusion SPECT Neuroimaging. J Alzheimers Dis 2018; 57:253-266. [PMID: 28211813 DOI: 10.3233/jad-161232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Depression and cognitive disorders (CDs) are two common co-morbid afflictions that commonly present with overlapping symptoms. OBJECTIVE To evaluate if perfusion neuroimaging with brain SPECT can distinguish persons with depression from those with CDs or both conditions. METHODS Inclusion criteria were DSM-IV defined depression or CDs (Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, dementia not otherwise specified, and amnestic disorders not otherwise specified) including persons with both (total n = 4,541; 847 CDs, 3,269 depression, 425 with both). Perfusion differences between the groups were calculated using two-sampled t-tests corrected for multiple comparisons. Diagnostic separation was determined with discriminant analysis. Feature selection revealed predictive regions in delineating depression from CDs and comorbid cases. RESULTS Persons with CDs had lower cerebral perfusion compared to depression. In co-morbid persons, cerebral hypoperfusion was additive, with regions showing lower regional cerebral blood flow compared to either diagnosis alone. Both baseline and concentration SPECT regions yielded correct classification of 86% and leave one out cross-validation of 83%. AUC analysis for SPECT regions showed 86% accuracy, 80% sensitivity and 75% specificity. Discriminant analysis separated depression and CDs from comorbid cases with correct classification of 90.8% and cross validated accuracy of 88.6%. Area under the curve was 83% with sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 70%. Feature selection identified the most predictive regions in left hippocampus, right insula, cerebellar, and frontal lobe regions. CONCLUSION Quantitative perfusion SPECT neuroimaging distinguishes depression from dementia and those with both co-morbidities. Perfusion brain SPECT can be utilized clinically to delineate between these two disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Andrew Newberg
- Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Chong CD, Schwedt TJ. Research Imaging of Brain Structure and Function After Concussion. Headache 2018; 58:827-835. [DOI: 10.1111/head.13269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2017] [Revised: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 12/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Amen DG, Darmal B, Raji CA, Bao W, Jorandby L, Meysami S, Raghavendra CS. Discriminative Properties of Hippocampal Hypoperfusion in Marijuana Users Compared to Healthy Controls: Implications for Marijuana Administration in Alzheimer's Dementia. J Alzheimers Dis 2018; 56:261-273. [PMID: 27886010 DOI: 10.3233/jad-160833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Few studies have evaluated the impact of marijuana use on regional cerebral blood flow. OBJECTIVE To determine whether perfusion in specific brain regions on functional neuroimaging, including those affected by Alzheimer's disease pathology, are abnormal in marijuana users compared to controls. METHOD Persons with a diagnosis of cannabis use disorder by DSM-IV and DSM-V criteria (n = 982) were compared to controls (n = 92) with perfusion neuroimaging with SPECT at rest and at a concentration task. Perfusion estimates were quantified using a standard atlas. Cerebral perfusion differences were calculated using one-way ANOVA. Diagnostic separation was determined with discriminant analysis of all subjects. Feature selection with a minimum redundancy maximum relevancy (mRMR) identified predictive regions in a subset of marijuana users (n = 436) with reduced psychiatric co-morbidities. RESULTS Marijuana users showed lower cerebral perfusion on average (p < 0.05). Discriminant analysis distinguished marijuana users from controls with correct classification of 96% and leave one out cross-validation of 92%. With concentration SPECT regions, there was correct classification of 95% with a leave-one-out cross validation of 90%. AUC analysis for concentration SPECT regions showed 95% accuracy, 90% sensitivity, and 83% specificity. The mRMR analysis showed right hippocampal hypoperfusion on concentration SPECT imaging was the most predictive in separating marijuana subjects from controls. CONCLUSION Multiple brain regions show low perfusion on SPECT in marijuana users. The most predictive region distinguishing marijuana users from healthy controls, the hippocampus, is a key target of Alzheimer's disease pathology. This study raises the possibility of deleterious brain effects of marijuana use.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Cyrus A Raji
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Weining Bao
- Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Cauligi S Raghavendra
- Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Lynch CE, Crynen G, Ferguson S, Mouzon B, Paris D, Ojo J, Leary P, Crawford F, Bachmeier C. Chronic cerebrovascular abnormalities in a mouse model of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. Brain Inj 2018; 30:1414-1427. [PMID: 27834539 DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2016.1219060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE To investigate the status of the cerebrovasculature following repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (r-mTBI). RESEARCH DESIGN TBI is a risk factor for development of various neurodegenerative disorders. A common feature of neurodegenerative disease is cerebrovascular dysfunction which includes alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF). TBI can result in transient reductions in CBF, with severe injuries often accompanied by varying degrees of vascular pathology post-mortem. However, at this stage, few studies have investigated the cerebrovasculature at chronic time points following repetitive mild brain trauma. METHODS AND PROCEDURES r-mTBI was delivered to wild-type mice (12 months old) twice per week for 3 months and tested for spatial memory deficits (Barnes Maze task) at 1 and 6 months post-injury. At 7 months post-injury CBF was assessed via Laser Doppler Imaging and, following euthanasia, the brain was probed for markers of cerebrovascular dysfunction and inflammation. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS Memory impairment was identified at 1 month post-injury and persisted as late as 6 months post-injury. Furthermore, significant immunopathological insult, reductions in global CBF and down-regulation of cerebrovascular-associated markers were observed. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate impaired cognitive behaviour alongside chronic cerebrovascular dysfunction in a mouse model of repetitive mild brain trauma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cillian E Lynch
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
| | - Gogce Crynen
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
| | - Scott Ferguson
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
| | - Benoit Mouzon
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
| | - Daniel Paris
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
| | - Joseph Ojo
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
| | - Paige Leary
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA
| | - Fiona Crawford
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
| | - Corbin Bachmeier
- a The Roskamp Institute , Sarasota , FL , USA.,b The Open University , Department of Life Sciences , Milton Keynes , UK.,c James A. Haley Veteran's Administration Center , Tampa , FL , USA
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Zafonte RD, Shih SL, Iaccarino MA, Tan CO. Neurologic benefits of sports and exercise. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2018; 158:463-471. [PMID: 30482373 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-63954-7.00042-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with several pathophysiologic changes, including: neurostructural alterations; molecular changes with shifts in circulating neurotrophins; impaired neural metabolism; changes in cerebrovascular autoregulation, vasoreactivity, and neurovascular coupling; and alterations in functional brain connectivity. In animal models of TBI, aerobic exercise reduces neuronal injury, promotes neuronal survival, and enhances the production of neuroprotective trophic factors. However, the timing of exercise initiation is an important consideration as early exercise in the acute postinjury period may impede recovery mechanisms, although evidence for this in humans is lacking. Though human clinical studies are limited, aerobic exercise post-TBI engages cerebrovascular mechanisms and may impart neurophysiologic benefits to mitigate post-TBI pathophysiologic changes. Additionally, subsymptom threshold exercise in humans has been demonstrated to be safe, feasible, and effective in decreasing symptom burden in individuals with mild TBI, and to counteract the detrimental effects of prolonged inactivity, subsequent physical deconditioning, and its negative emotional sequelae. This chapter will explore the potential role of aerobic exercise in neurorecovery after TBI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ross D Zafonte
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
| | - Shirley L Shih
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Mary Alexis Iaccarino
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Can Ozan Tan
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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D'Ascanio S, Alosco ML, Stern RA. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: clinical presentation and in vivo diagnosis. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2018; 158:281-296. [PMID: 30482356 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-63954-7.00027-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to repetitive head impacts from contact sport participation (e.g., American football, boxing, soccer) is associated with the neurodegenerative disorder known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The neuropathology of CTE is becoming well defined, and diagnostic criteria have been developed and are being refined. The critical next step in this emerging field is the diagnosis of CTE during life. The objective of this chapter is to describe what is currently known about the clinical presentation and in vivo diagnosis of CTE. This chapter reviews studies in which clinical manifestation of CTE was examined through retrospective telephone interviews with informants of individuals whose brains were donated and were diagnosed with CTE through neuropathologic examination. In vivo research examining the long-term neurobehavioral consequences of repetitive head impacts is also reviewed, followed by a comparison of the existing provisional clinical diagnostic criteria for CTE, as well as preliminary research on possible fluid and neuroimaging biomarkers. An illustrative case study of CTE is presented, and the chapter concludes with a discussion of gaps in knowledge and future directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven D'Ascanio
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Michael L Alosco
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Robert A Stern
- Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center and CTE Center, Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States.
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White matter signal abnormalities in former National Football League players. ALZHEIMER'S & DEMENTIA: DIAGNOSIS, ASSESSMENT & DISEASE MONITORING 2017; 10:56-65. [PMID: 29201991 PMCID: PMC5699890 DOI: 10.1016/j.dadm.2017.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Introduction Later-life brain alterations in former tackle football players are poorly understood, particularly regarding their relationship with repetitive head impacts (RHIs) and clinical function. We examined white matter signal abnormalities (WMSAs) and their association with RHIs and clinical function in former National Football League (NFL) players. Methods Eighty-six clinically symptomatic former NFL players and 23 same-age reportedly asymptomatic controls without head trauma exposure underwent magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychological testing. FreeSurfer calculated WMSAs. A cumulative head impact index quantified RHIs. Results In former NFL players, increased volume of WMSAs was associated with higher cumulative head impact index scores (P = .043) and worse psychomotor speed and executive function (P = .015). Although former NFL players had greater WMSA volume than controls (P = .046), these findings are inconclusive due to recruitment of controls based on lack of clinical symptoms and head trauma exposure. Discussion In former NFL players, WMSAs may reflect long-term microvascular and nonmicrovascular pathologies from RHIs that negatively impact cognition. Repetitive head impact exposure was positively associated with WMSAs in former NFL players. In former NFL players, greater WMSAs was associated with worse psychomotor speed and executive function. The pathologies of WMSAs may contribute to the clinical presentation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
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Age of first exposure to American football and long-term neuropsychiatric and cognitive outcomes. Transl Psychiatry 2017; 7:e1236. [PMID: 28926003 PMCID: PMC5639242 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2017.197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Revised: 06/16/2017] [Accepted: 07/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research suggests that age of first exposure (AFE) to football before age 12 may have long-term clinical implications; however, this relationship has only been examined in small samples of former professional football players. We examined the association between AFE to football and behavior, mood and cognition in a large cohort of former amateur and professional football players. The sample included 214 former football players without other contact sport history. Participants completed the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT), and self-reported measures of executive function and behavioral regulation (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version Metacognition Index (MI), Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI)), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)) and apathy (Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES)). Outcomes were continuous and dichotomized as clinically impaired. AFE was dichotomized into <12 and ⩾12, and examined continuously. Multivariate mixed-effect regressions controlling for age, education and duration of play showed AFE to football before age 12 corresponded with >2 × increased odds for clinically impaired scores on all measures but BTACT: (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI): BRI, 2.16,1.19-3.91; MI, 2.10,1.17-3.76; CES-D, 3.08,1.65-5.76; AES, 2.39,1.32-4.32). Younger AFE predicted increased odds for clinical impairment on the AES (OR, 95% CI: 0.86, 0.76-0.97) and CES-D (OR, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.74-0.97). There was no interaction between AFE and highest level of play. Younger AFE to football, before age 12 in particular, was associated with increased odds for impairment in self-reported neuropsychiatric and executive function in 214 former American football players. Longitudinal studies will inform youth football policy and safety decisions.
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