While brain injury prevention in sports has largely focused on concussions, a groundbreaking study revealed that the development and severity of CTE are associated with the duration of play and the cumulative force of all repetitive head impacts.

A study found that neurodegeneration is “progressive and continues for many years after mild head trauma without signs of brain injury on conventional MRI.”

A recent study published in JAMA Neurology by DeCarli et al. found that brain volumes and brain size are becoming progressively larger––based on MRI brain imaging observations of participants born between 1930 and 1970.

In October 2023, Willie Stewart et al. published a paper in Acta Neuropathologica demonstrating an association between the development of CTE and the length of a person’s rugby career.

A study in Neurology Advisor found that for active and retired professional fighters exposed to repetitive head impacts, blood plasma measurements of the biomarkers GFAP and NfL “may help identify those who are at risk for progressive regional brain atrophy and cognitive decline.”

“Veterans who reported having at least one traumatic brain injury or TBI at any time in their life had lower cognitive scores in later life, compared to twin siblings who did not experience a TBI,” observed Dr. Chanti-Ketterl during a recent podcast about a twin study of WWII veterans (published in Neurology), of which she was the first author.

A cross-sectional study published in JAMA Network Open found that participation in organized American football was associated with higher rates of reported parkinsonism or Parkinson’s disease diagnosis.