Cited by 588Traumatic Brain Injury ResearchAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsTraumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances

The Neuropathology of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Open access
McKee, Ann C., Stein, Thor D., Kiernan, Patrick T., Alvarez, Victor E.·2015·Brain Pathology

Abstract

Repetitive brain trauma is associated with a progressive neurological deterioration, now termed as chronic traumatic encephalopathy ( CTE ). Most instances of CTE occur in association with the play of sports, but CTE has also been reported in association with blast injuries and other neurotrauma. Symptoms of CTE include behavioral and mood changes, memory loss, cognitive impairment and dementia. Like many other neurodegenerative diseases, CTE is diagnosed with certainty only by neuropathological examination of brain tissue. CTE is a tauopathy characterized by the deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau (p‐tau) protein as neurofibrillary tangles, astrocytic tangles and neurites in striking clusters around small blood vessels of the cortex, typically at the sulcal depths. Severely affected cases show p‐tau pathology throughout the brain. Abnormalities in phosphorylated 43 k D a TAR DNA ‐binding protein are found in most cases of CTE ; beta‐amyloid is identified in 43%, associated with age. Given the importance of sports participation and physical exercise to physical and psychological health as well as disease resilience, it is critical to identify the genetic risk factors for CTE as well as to understand how other variables, such as stress, age at exposure, gender, substance abuse and other exposures, contribute to the development of CTE .

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Crossref · 10.1111/bpa.12248

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  • Beta-amyloid plaques are uncommon in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, unlike in Alzheimer's disease.

    “Unlike Alzheimer's, beta-amyloid plaques are uncommon in CTE.191,192”

    From 2023 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures (2023) · cites this paper as [191]

    The ‘Aβ in CTE’ section (page unavailable) says plaques are not a consistent feature of CTE and are absent in early-stage disease, supporting the main distinction. The Abstract (page unavailable) reports beta-amyloid in 43% of cases, so ‘uncommon’ needs qualification; the cited passages also do not establish a comparison of plaque frequency with Alzheimer’s disease. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Like Alzheimer's disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy is characterized by tangles of an abnormal form of the tau protein in the brain.

    “Like Alzheimer's disease, CTE is characterized by tangles of an abnormal form of the protein tau in the brain.”

    From 2023 Alzheimer's disease facts and figures (2023) · cites this paper as [191]

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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2 of the 132 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [103]McKee AC Stein T Kiernan P Alvarez V 2015 The neuropathology of chronic traumatic encephalopathy Brain Pathology 25 336 350 PMC4526170 25904048
  2. [105]Smith C 2015 The study and consequences of repetitive traumatic brain injury Brain Pathology 25 287 288 25904044 PMC8029171

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Authors
McKee, A. C., Stein, T. D., Kiernan, P. T., & Alvarez, V. E.
Affiliations
Boston University (US)
Venue
Brain Pathology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-04-23
Volume
25
Issue
3
Pages
350-364
ISSN
  • 1015-6305 (ISSN-L)
  • 1750-3639
OpenAlex
W1888623186
Cited by
585
References
132
Citations by year
2026: 37 · 2025: 62 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 69 · 2018: 49 · 2017: 50 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 1
FWCI
6.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Brain Pathology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (1UO1NS086659-01)
  • Department of Defense
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • National Institute of Aging (P30AG13846)
  • NFL
  • NOCSAE
  • Sports Legacy Institute
  • WWE
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
Keywords
chronic traumatic encephalopathy, repetitive head trauma, tauopathy, hyperphosphorylated tau, neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid-beta, sports-related brain injury, blast injury, neurodegeneration, genetic risk factors, neuropathology
MeSH terms
Neuropathology, Brain, DNA-Binding Proteins, Humans, tau Proteins, Brain Injury, Chronic

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