Hope on the horizon: MRI may help diagnose CTE in living patients

By Lori Mae Yvette Calibuso Acob. This article was initially published in our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can only be diagnosed after death via autopsy. However, according to new research published in Alzheimer’s Research & Therapy, MRIs may soon detect CTE in people still alive, allowing doctors to make an earlier diagnosis. 

Authors Michael L. Alosco et al. compared medical records and MRIs of 55 deceased males with autopsy-confirmed CTE to 31 male controls with normal cognition at the time of their scan. Since MRIs are commonly used to diagnose progressive brain diseases, researchers reasoned that MRIs would be an effective tool to detect biomarkers of CTE in living people.

According to the corresponding author and director of Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Dr. Jesse Mez, researchers observed shrinkage in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain in people with CTE. They also observed structural changes to the hippocampus, amygdala, and thalamus; regions in charge of memory and learning, emotions, and the relay station of sensory and motor signals. 

For CTE-positive brains, “greater tau severity across 14 regions corresponded to greater atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging,” leading researchers to conclude that “p-tau accumulation is associated with atrophy in CTE.”

Findings from this study offer a better idea of what to expect when we see an MRI of someone who may have CTE, bringing scientists and doctors closer to diagnosing CTE in living people. Despite being limited by the small sample size and the need for more research, the progress achieved through this study is promising: MRIs have the potential to provide a diagnosis for CTE in living people, paving the way for identification and treatment.