Dementia in contact sport athletes

What are the long-term consequences of repetitive head injury in sport? Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive brain disease that causes dementia and has been reported in athletes from a range of contact sports including rugby, American football, boxing and ice hockey.

CTE can only be definitively diagnosed by post-mortem brain examination and we know very little about what happens inside the brain as the disease progresses. Our research examines the tissue donated to the Sports Brain Bank Initiative of the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank. We use fluorescent labelling to identify microscopic changes in CTE brain tissue compared to normal aging and other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. This work will help us understand the link between repetitive head injury and dementia.

Your donations help us to fund the students, researchers and materials we need for this research. Thank you for your support.