ArticleJournal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI2021
Exposure to Repetitive Head Impacts Is Associated With Corpus Callosum Microstructure and Plasma Total Tau in Former Professional American Football Players.
Article in Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Regional ventricular enlargement as an in vivo biomarker of cumulative biomechanical neurodegeneration in former American football players.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Dose-dependent white matter changes associated with repetitive head impacts in former American football players.Brain communications · 2026Article
- Long-term neurobehavioral and neuroimaging outcomes in athletes with prior concussion(s) and head impact exposure.The Clinical neuropsychologist · 2025Review
- Characterizing white matter and vascular pathologies in brain donors exposed to repetitive head impacts.Acta neuropathologica · 2025Article
- White Matter Hyperintensities and Microstructural Alterations in Contact Sport Athletes from Adolescence to Early Midlife.Journal of neurotrauma · 2024Article
- Sleep Quality Disturbances Are Associated with White Matter Alterations in Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Decreased myelin proteins in brain donors exposed to football-related repetitive head impacts.Brain communications · 2023Article
- White matter association tracts underlying language and theory of mind: An investigation of 809 brains from the Human Connectome Project.NeuroImage · 2022Article
- Applying the Bradford Hill Criteria for Causation to Repetitive Head Impacts and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Review
- Developing methods to detect and diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy during life: rationale, design, and methodology for the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2021Article
- Head Impact Exposure Across Levels of Play in American Football: A Systematic Review of Accelerometer Data.Neurotrauma reportsReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI) is associated with an increased risk of later-life neurobehavioral dysregulation and neurodegenerative disease. The underlying pathomechanisms are largely unknown. PURPOSE: To investigate whether RHI exposure is associated with later-life corpus callosum (CC) microstructure and whether CC microstructure is associated with plasma total tau and neuropsychological/neuropsychiatric functioning. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective cohort study. POPULATION: Seventy-five former professional American football players (age 55.2 ± 8.0 years) with cognitive, behavioral, and mood symptoms. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: Diffusion-weighted echo-planar MRI at 3 T. ASSESSMENT: Subjects underwent diffusion MRI, venous puncture, neuropsychological testing, and completed self-report measures of neurobehavioral dysregulation. RHI exposure was assessed using the Cumulative Head Impact Index (CHII). Diffusion MRI measures of CC microstructure (i.e., free-water corrected fractional anisotropy (FA), trace, radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD)) were extracted from seven segments of the CC (CC1-7), using a tractography clustering algorithm. Neuropsychological tests were selected: Trail Making Test Part A (TMT-A) and Part B (TMT-B), Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), Stroop Interference Test, and the Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Adult version (BRIEF-A). STATISTICAL TESTS: Diffusion MRI metrics were tested for associations with RHI exposure, plasma total tau, neuropsychological performance, and neurobehavioral dysregulation using generalized linear models for repeated measures.
resultsRHI exposure was associated with increased AD of CC1 (correlation coefficient (r) = 0.32, P < 0.05) and with increased plasma total tau (r = 0.34, P < 0.05). AD of the anterior CC1 was associated with increased plasma total tau (CC1: r = 0.30, P < 0.05; CC2: r = 0.29, P < 0.05). Higher trace, AD, and RD of CC1 were associated with better performance (P < 0.05) in TMT-A (trace, r = 0.33; AD, r = 0.31; and RD, r = 0.28) and TMT-B (trace, r = 0.31; RD, r = 0.34). Higher FA and AD of CC2 were associated with better performance (P < 0.05) in TMT-A (FA, r = 0.36; AD, r = 0.28), TMT-B (FA, r = 0.36; AD, r = 0.27), COWAT (FA, r = 0.36; AD, r = 0.32), and BRI (AD, r = 0.29). DATA
conclusionThese results suggest an association among RHI exposure, CC microstructure, plasma total tau, and clinical functioning in former professional American football players. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Technical Efficacy Stage: 1.
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