Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a devastating disease that manifests as early onset dementia in patients who exhibit memory loss, cognitive decline, personality changes and other symptoms, progressing to debilitating dementia. There is growing evidence that CTE is caused not by a single or even multiple concussions, but in fact by the accumulated damage caused by years of repetitive head injuries (RHIs). These RHIs are described as ‘sub-concussive’ impacts because they do not cause a concussion nor any symptoms at the time of impact, but are nonetheless now thought to aggregate damage during the course of a person’s life, possibly leading to the development of CTE in later life.
If the link between RHI and CTE is comprehensively established then RHI from sport represents an enormous risk to the well-being of athletes, including children, who participate in contact sports. My research aims to investigate the link between RHI and CTE by using images of the brain and the back of the eye (the retina) to show signs of the accumulated damage that is caused by RHI. Currently it is not possible to detect CTE using conventional imaging. It could then be possible to assess whether a person is at risk for CTE and to provide intervention and advice to prevent CTE as a major public health concern.