{"id":111644,"date":"2023-03-07T08:29:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T13:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/?p=111644"},"modified":"2023-03-07T08:29:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T13:29:40","slug":"new-bu-study-finds-tackle-football-at-young-age-raises-risk-for-brain-decline-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2023\/03\/07\/new-bu-study-finds-tackle-football-at-young-age-raises-risk-for-brain-decline-later\/","title":{"rendered":"New BU Study Finds Tackle Football at Young Age Raises Risk for Brain Decline Later"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cOne message we try to get across is you don\u2019t need to be playing tackle football at a very young age,\u201d says BU neuropathologist and study coauthor Thor Stein. \u201cIf you can just shrink those cumulative years of play down a little bit, you can make a really big impact on brain health.\u201d Photo by ActionPics\/iStock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The degenerative brain disease known as CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy<\/a>, has become a specter haunting football. One-time stars<\/a>\u2014like the late NFL defensive backs Irv Cross<\/a> and Dave Duerson<\/a> and the Hall of Fame center Mike Webster<\/a>\u2014who were all once heralded for their swaggering on-field heroics, later found themselves condemned to far less glamorous retirements, stuck with years of progressively declining brain health, plagued by forgetfulness, disordered thinking, and poorly regulated emotions.<\/p>\n

Now, a new study led by the Boston University CTE Center<\/a> suggests the shots players take on the path to fame and glory may have a wider impact on their brains than previously known. Researchers found repetitive blows to the head may also lead to less white matter in the brain, potentially causing impulsive behavior and other thinking-related problems, whether or not someone has CTE. The research, published in Brain Communications<\/em>, showed those who start playing tackle football at an early age or play it for more than 11 years are at greater risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because you aren\u2019t diagnosed with CTE doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t something structurally damaged in the brain,\u201d says neuropathologist Thor D. Stein<\/a>, a BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine. \u201cDamage to the white matter may help explain why football players appear more likely to develop cognitive and behavioral problems later in life, even in the absence of CTE.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damage from Football\u2019s Repeated Hits<\/h3>\n

White matter is the brain\u2019s cabling, made up of axons, or nerve fibers, that connect its billions of cells. It accounts for about half of the human brain\u2019s volume\u2014without it, our cells (the gray matter) wouldn\u2019t be able to communicate with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of neuroscience and degenerative disease study is focused on the neurons or cells themselves, but increasingly people are recognizing that there can be damage to the connections,\u201d says Stein, leader of the BU Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Research Center\u2019s<\/a> neuropathology core and a staff neurologist at two Boston-area Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 healthcare systems. \u201cThe cell itself might look okay, but its connection is not intact\u2014and that was what we wanted to look at in this study.\u201d<\/p>\n

To dig into the effect of repeated hits to the head on these connections, the researchers analyzed the brains of 205 amateur and professional football players. All had asked that their brains be donated to the BU-hosted UNITE Brain Bank<\/a>, which holds more than 1,200 brains, after their deaths. A majority of the former players\u201475.9 percent\u2014had reportedly been functionally impaired and, the researchers found, many (but not all) also had CTE.<\/p>\n

For the study, Stein and his colleagues split themselves into two groups, blinded\u2014or working independently\u2014from each other. One group conducted a pathological examination of the brains, peering at samples through microscopes and dissecting white matter tissue to test protein levels. The second group evaluated medical records and interviewed family members about symptoms.<\/p>\n

Stein was part of the pathological team. He concentrated his efforts on investigating myelin, a membrane of lipids and proteins that wraps around and strengthens the brain\u2019s cabling\u2014like the plastic casing around insulated wire. Using biochemical tests called immunoassays, he measured the levels of two myelin proteins, myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) and proteolipid protein 1 (PLP). \u201cHow much of these proteins are present is a proxy of the integrity of the white matter,\u201d says Stein. Less myelin, less efficient connections between brain cells.<\/p>\n

The researchers targeted the frontal lobe, the part of the brain that controls many executive functions, from memory and attention to planning and self-control. It\u2019s also on the front lines when it comes to football hits and concussion impacts. They found that the more years someone played football, the less PLP they had; those who played for more than 11 years had less PLP and<\/em> MAG than those with shorter careers. They also discovered that donors who started playing tackle football earlier had lower PLP levels. Stein suspects that young, developing brains are especially susceptible to damage from football\u2019s repeated hits.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe young folks playing at an early age, their connections might be particularly susceptible to damage,\u201d he says. \u201cWe found if you started at a younger age, you were more likely to have less of these white matter\u2013associated proteins decades later in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their lifetimes, the former players probably struggled to plan their days, control their emotions, and understand the consequences of their actions, says Stein. \u201cIn our study, we found that, in those over 50 years of age, lower measures of white matter were associated with an impaired ability to perform normal activities of daily living, such as paying bills, shopping, and cooking, as well as with more impulsive behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assess the Risk of Contact Sports<\/h3>\n

The latest study should allow researchers to give families some closure\u2014by explaining what caused their loved ones\u2019 sliding brain health. The research could also provide a foundation for helping future patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese results suggest that existing tests that measure white matter injury during life, including imaging and blood tests, may help to clarify potential causes of changes in behavior and cognition in former contact sport athletes,\u201d says Michael L. Alosco<\/a>, a lead author on the study and a Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine associate professor of neurology. \u201cWe can also use these tests to better understand how repeated hits to the head from football and other sports lead to long-term injury to the white matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stein hopes their work will also help people better assess the risks of playing football, along with other contact sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a cumulative risk\u2014the more you play, the more your risk is increased,\u201d says Stein, who backs the Concussion Legacy Foundation\u2019s Flag Football Under 14 campaign<\/a>. \u201cOne message we try to get across is you don\u2019t need to be playing tackle football at a very young age\u2014if you can just shrink those cumulative years of play down a little bit, you can make a really big impact on brain health. This study is more evidence of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This BU Today story was written by Andrew Thurston<\/a>. Gina DiGravio contributed reporting to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n

This research was supported by grant funding from the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIA BU Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Research Center; Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration; Nick and Lynn Buoniconti Foundation, BU Clinical & Translational Science Institute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers discover playing football for more than 11 years is tied to less white matter in the brain, could lead to poor impulse control and thinking problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91],"tags":[326,325],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111646,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111644\/revisions\/111646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}