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Traumatic brain injury

New insights into the long-term effects of mild brain injury

Nature Reviews Neurology volume 13, page 195 (2017) Cite this article

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Two reports have shed new light on the long-term consequences of mild brain injury. The research teams studied two different groups of people who are at risk of head injuries: Helen Ling and colleagues examined retired association football players, who were exposed to repeated head–ball and head–player impacts throughout their career, whereas Christine Mac Donald and colleagues studied individuals from the US military who had been exposed to blasts.

Athletes who participate in contact sports, such as boxing, are known to be at risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain pathology that involves progressive impairment of memory, behaviour and motor function. As CTE is thought to be exacerbated by repetitive head impacts, Ling and colleagues investigated whether CTE might underlie the onset of dementia in a series of association football players.

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References

  1. Ling, H. et al. Mixed pathologies including chronic traumatic encephalopathy account for dementia in retired association football (soccer) players. Acta Neuropathol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00401-017-1680-3 (2017)

  2. Mac Donald, C. L. et al. 5-year imaging sequelae of concussive blast injury and relation to early clinical outcome. Neuroimage Clin. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2017.02.005 (2017)

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  1. Charlotte Ridler
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Ridler, C. New insights into the long-term effects of mild brain injury. Nat Rev Neurol 13, 195 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2017.32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2017.32

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