Protect the player, protect the game: subconcussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Abstract

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), formerly known as “punch drunk” or dementia pugilistica, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Repetitive exposure to head insults may cause insidious effects in the brain parenchyma, including tau protein dissociation and abnormal phosphorylation, encompassing the cerebrovasculature without being cleared. Concomitantly, various psychosocial complications (e.g. headache, difficulty concentrating, depression, dementia) are notable in CTE (Gardner, 2014., McKee, 2013). However, because the bulk of evidence originates from post-mortem case reports, there is a substantial knowledge gap in causality among tau accumulation, head impact exposure, and behavioural alteration.