Head Examiner: Neurologist Ann McKee talks about battered brains, tangled tau, and the future of sports

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Ann McKee, MD, neurology and pathology

For Ann McKee, every brain tells a story. And sometimes it’s a tragic one. McKee, a professor of neurology and pathology at the Boston University School of Medicine (MED), is the director of neuropathology for the Veterans Affairs New England Healthcare System, and also directs BU’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative brain disease found in athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma. McKee first identified its telltale mark—tiny tangles of a protein called tau, clustered around blood vessels—in the dissected brain of a boxer who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Expert quote:

The thing that is shocking to me, and continues to be shocking, are the 25-year-olds who have died with this disease. Not because of it—it’s usually a suicide or an accidental death. I can’t say that CTE caused their suicide. But for me, it’s shocking to see neurodegenerative disease in a 25-year-old. It’s horrible. And it’s undeniable. We’ve seen it in enough 20-somethings now that you can’t escape this. It’s a shock to think, “That guy looks so young, and he’s dead. And he’s dead with this.”

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