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Our Mission
In September, 2008, the Sports Legacy Institute announced its partnership with the Boston University School of Medicine, together establishing the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE). The mission of the CSTE is to research Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, including its neuropathology and pathogenesis, the clinical presentation and course, the genetics and other risk factors for CTE, and ways of preventing this cause of dementia.
The multidisciplinary team that established the CSTE include SLI Medical Advisors Dr. Ann McKee and Dr. Robert Stern, SLI Medical Advisory Chair Dr. Robert Cantu, and SLI President Christopher Nowinski.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive concussions. CTE has been known to affect boxers since the 1920s. However, recent reports have been published of neuropathologically confirmed CTE in retired professional football players and wrestlers who have a history of head trauma. This trauma, which includes multiple concussions, triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau (see photos below). These changes in the brain can begin months, years, or even decades after the last concussion or end of active athletic involvement. The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, paranoia, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.
Left (top ): Whole brain section from a 65 year old control subject showing no tau protein deposition
Left (bottom): Microscopic section from 65 year old control subject also shows no tau protein deposition |
Middle top: Whole brain section from 45 year old athlete showing abundant tau protein deposition in the amygdala and adjacent temporal cortex.
Middle bottom: Microscopic section showing numerous tau positive neurofibrillary tangles and neurites in the amygdala |
Right top: Whole brain section from a 73 year old athlete with severe dementia showing very severe tau protein deposition in the amygdala and thalamus
Right bottom: Microscopic section showing extremely dense tau positive neurofibrillary tangles and neurites in the amygdala |
CSTE Research Focus
>>CONTACT - Consent to Obtain Neural Tissue from Athletes with Concussive Trauma
CONTACT is a living brain donation program through which current and retired college or professional athletes agree to donate their brains upon death to the CSTE brain bank for neuopathological analysis. Subjects will also complete a yearly interview with study staff during their lifetime describing their athletic and concussion history, their educational and occupational history, as well as medical history and current cognitive, behavioral, and mood symptoms.
>>CSTE Brain Bank
Family members of deceased athletes may also agree to donate their loved one’s brain and spinal cord after their death to CSTE brain bank to be examined neuropathologically for evidence of CTE or other disorders of the central nervous system. The family member(s) will be interviewed for a history of their loved one, including his or her athletic and concussion history, educational and occupational history, medical history and history of cognitive, behavioral, and mood symptoms..
>>Pilot Clinical Study
In the next year, it is expected that approximately ten living current or former athletes who wish to donate their brain upon death to the CSTE brain bank will be enrolled in a more involved research study involving neuropsychological assessment (memory and other cognitive tests), MRI scans of the brain, and examination of cerebrospinal fluid. The Center plans to begin recruitment for this study in early 2009.
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