Former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is participating in a study to diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in the living. CTE is a degenerative brain disease linked to concussions and head trauma common in contact sports and military combat.
What is CTE?
CTE can affect regions of the brain involved with regulating behavior and emotions, leading to memory loss, depression, and violent mood swings. Currently, CTE can only be diagnosed after death.
Hasselbeck, who played in the NFL for 17 years, recently spent two days at Boston University undergoing a series of scans and tests to determine how his brain has been affected by years of collisions. He is also donating his brain for research after he dies.
The Study
The study, led by Michael Alosco, co-director of clinical research at the Boston University CTE Center, aims to expand to hundreds of participants in multiple locations. The study seeks two types of people: those who played professional or college football and those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and never played contact or collision sports.
Researchers hope that by studying the brains of people like Hasselbeck, they can find a way to diagnose CTE in the living and potentially develop treatments for the disease.
Original reporting: Alexandria, VA News – WTOP News — read the source article.
