Olfactory function is reduced in a subset of former elite American football players with traumatic encephalopathy syndrome.

Former American football players are at risk for developing traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES), the clinical disorder associated with neuropathologically diagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The objective of this study was to determine whether hyposmia is present in traumatic encephalopathy syndrome. The study included 119 former professional American football players, 60 former college football players, and 58 same-age asymptomatic unexposed men from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project.

Conversion to Alzheimer's disease dementia from normal cognition directly or with the intermediate mild cognitive impairment stage.

Introduction: Progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia from normal cognition (NC) can follow different trajectories, with most progressing through a recognizable mild cognitive impairment stage (NC-MCI-AD), while some individuals transition quickly from NC to AD dementia (NC-AD).

Methods: We compared demographic characteristics, health factors, and cognitive and functional assessments across three time points: the first NC visit, the last NC visit, and the first AD dementia visit.

Results: The NC-MCI-AD group showed greater impairment in cognitive and functional scores at AD dementia diagnosis, despite maintaining better cognitive function during the NC stage.

Sleepiness in retired male boxers: daytime sleepiness and its relationship with impulsiveness and depression symptomatology in retired professional male boxers.

Background: Boxing exposes fighters to head impacts and potential traumatic brain injury (TBI). Though research has explored the neuropsychiatric consequences of contact sports, there is limited research into Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) and its relationship to other outcomes, such as impulsiveness and depression. Therefore, this study aimed to describe EDS in retired boxers using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and to examine how boxing and sleepiness relate to impulsiveness and depression symptomatology.

Prior football or rugby exposure and white matter signal abnormalities in professional male mixed martial arts fighters.

Background: White matter signal abnormalities have been associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and repetitive head impacts (RHI) in contact sports (e.g. American football, rugby).

Clinical Outcomes and Tau Pathology in Retired Football Players: Associations With Diagnosed and Witnessed Sleep Apnea.

Background And Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (SA) is common in older men and a contributor to negative cognitive, psychiatric, and brain health outcomes. Little is known about SA in those who played contact sports and are at increased risk of neurodegenerative disease(s) and other neuropathologies associated with repetitive head impacts (RHI). In this study, we investigated the frequency of diagnosed and witnessed SA and its contribution to clinical symptoms and tau pathology using PET imaging among male former college and former professional American football players.

Association of Win-Loss Record With Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Brain Health Among Professional Fighters.

Objective: Repetitive head impacts in professional fighting commonly lead to head injuries. Increased exposure to repetitive head trauma, measured by the number of professional fights and years of fighting, has been associated with slower processing speed and smaller brain volumes. The impact of win-loss outcomes has been investigated in other sports, with several studies suggesting that individuals on losing teams experience more head injuries.

Association of Vascular Risk Factors and CSF and Imaging Biomarkers With White Matter Hyperintensities in Former American Football Players.

Background And Objectives: Recent data link exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHIs) from American football with increased white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden. WMH might have unique characteristics in the context of RHI beyond vascular risk and normal aging processes. We evaluated biological correlates of WMH in former American football players, including markers of amyloid, tau, inflammation, axonal injury, neurodegeneration, and vascular health.

Blood biomarkers and neurodegeneration in individuals exposed to repetitive head impacts.

Background: It is unknown if fluid biomarkers reflective of brain pathologies are useful in detecting and following a neurodegenerative process in individuals exposed to repetitive head impacts. This study explores the relationship between blood biomarkers and longitudinal change in cognitive function and regional brain volumes in a cohort of professional fighters.

Methods: Participants are drawn from a convenience sample of active and retired professional boxers and Mixed Martial Arts fighters and a control group with no prior exposure to head impacts.

Amyloid PET across the cognitive spectrum in former professional and college American football players: findings from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project.

Background: Exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI) in American football players can lead to cognitive impairment and dementia due to neurodegenerative disease, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The pathognomonic lesion of CTE consists of perivascular aggregates of hyper-phosphorylated tau in neurons at the depths of cortical sulci. However, it is unclear whether exposure to RHI accelerates amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque formation and increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Longitudinal Changes in Regional Brain Volumes and Cognition of Professional Fighters With Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome.

Background And Objectives: Due to current limitations in diagnosing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) clinically, traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) has been proposed as the clinical presentation of suspected CTE. This study aimed to determine whether there was an association between a clinical diagnosis of TES and subsequent temporal decline in cognitive or MRI volumetric measures.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the Professional Athletes Brain Health Study (PABHS), inclusive of active and retired professional fighters older than 34 years.

7T MRI Versus 3T MRI of the Brain in Professional Fighters and Patients With Head Trauma.

Many studies have investigated the imaging sequelae of repetitive head trauma with mixed results, particularly with regard to the detection of intracranial white matter changes (WMCs) and cerebral microhemorrhages (CMHs) on ≤3 Tesla (T) field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 7T MRI, which has recently been approved for clinical use, is more sensitive at detecting lesions associated with multiple neurological diagnoses. In this study, we sought to determine whether 7T MRI would detect more WMCs and CMHs than 3T MRI in 19 professional fighters, 16 patients with single TBI, versus 82 normal healthy controls (NHCs).

Sparring and the Brain: The Associations between Sparring and Regional Brain Volumes in Professional Mixed Martial Arts Fighters.

Background: Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, due to exposure to repetitive head impacts, are at risk for brain atrophy and neurodegenerative sequelae. Simultaneously, motor skills training and cognition-rich activities have been linked with larger regional brain volumes. The majority of an MMA fighter's sporting activity occurs during practice (e.

Articulation Rate, Pauses, and Disfluencies in Professional Fighters: Potential Speech Biomarkers for Repetitive Head Injury.

Objective: As part of a larger study dedicated to identifying speech and language biomarkers of neurological decline associated with repetitive head injury (RHI) in professional boxers and mixed martial artists (MMAs), we examined articulation rate, pausing, and disfluency in passages read aloud by participants in the Professional Athletes Brain Health Study.

Setting: A large outpatient medical center specializing in neurological care.

Participants, Design, And Main Measures: Passages read aloud by 60 boxers, 40 MMAs, and 55 controls were acoustically analyzed to determine articulation rate (the number of syllables produced per second), number and duration of pauses, and number and duration of disfluencies in this observational study.

Neuropsychological test performance of former American football players.

Background: Patterns of cognitive impairment in former American football players are uncertain because objective neuropsychological data are lacking. This study characterized the neuropsychological test performance of former college and professional football players.

Methods: One hundred seventy male former football players (n=111 professional, n=59 college; 45-74 years) completed a neuropsychological test battery.