ArticleNature communications2023
Leveraging football accelerometer data to quantify associations between repetitive head impacts and chronic traumatic encephalopathy in males.
Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph
Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07507253 (Pilot Study on the Correlation Between Accelerations Experienced During Matches by Professional Rugby Players and a Profile of Salivary Biomarkers Identified in the Literature as Related to Concussion.), which is not on this map. Cited by 92 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
92citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
30.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Pilot Study on the Correlation Between Accelerations Experienced During Matches by Professional Rugby Players and a Profile of Salivary Biomarkers Identified in the Literature as Related to Concussion.
Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 144 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Incidence of Sports-Related Concussion in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine - open · 2025Pooled it
- Readability of Online Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Information: Health Literacy Implications for Parents Navigating Youth Tackle Football Decisions.Journal of community health · 2026Article
- Cognitive and Behavioral Functioning in Female Former Soccer Players: Results from the Head Impact and Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS).Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Younger Age of First Exposure to American Football Is Associated with Worse Informant-Reported Clinical Outcomes in Older Age Brain Donors.Journal of neurotrauma · 2026Article
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: A devastating legacy of repetitive concussion.Neurobiology of disease · 2026Review
- 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
- Associations Between Cumulative Head Trauma and Self-Reported Parkinsonism and Parkinson's Disease in Former Soccer Players.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2026Article
- Head Acceleration Event Probabilities During Standardised Contact Drills in Academy Men's Rugby League.European journal of sport science · 2026Article
- Instrumented Mouthguards in Women's Rugby League: Quantifying the Incidence and Probability of Head Acceleration Events at Group and Individual Levels.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Recreational Activities and Youth Outcomes: An Explainable Machine Learning Study.JAACAP open · 2026Article
- Neurodegenerative mortality among National Football League Players.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Plasma Phosphorylated Tau 217 in Participants at Risk for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Astrocytic contributions to the pathogenesis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy: a scoping review.Chinese neurosurgical journal · 2026Review
- The Effect of Changing Weekly Contact Training Duration Beyond Current Guidelines on Head Acceleration Events in Rugby Union.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Imaging the later-life white matter pathologies of repetitive head impacts: A novel pattern revealed through T2 FLAIR MRI.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Alterations in CSF Amyloid-β and Tau Biomarkers in Former College and Professional American Football Players: Findings from the DIAGNOSE CTE Research Project.Journal of neurotrauma · 2026Observational
- Retired contact sports athletes with cognitive concerns: promoting lifelong brain health.Practical neurology · 2026Review
- Head Acceleration Event Magnitude and Incidence Rate in Academy Rugby Union: A Comparison Across Club and International Competition.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Factors associated with subjective cognitive complaints in former American football players.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2026Article
- Biomechanical Risk Factors for Head Impact during Falls in Mountain Biking.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
31 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Daniel H DaneshvarDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. ddaneshvar@mgh.harvard.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-3691-9513
Evan S NairBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Zachary H BaucomBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Abigail RaschBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Bobak AbdolmohammadiBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Madeline UretskyBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7604-3619
Nicole SaltielBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Arsal ShahBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Johnny JarnaginDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Christine M BaughCenter for Bioethics and Humanities, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
Brett M MartinBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Joseph N PalmisanoBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Jonathan D CherryBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1257-981X
Victor E AlvarezBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Bertrand R HuberBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Jennifer WeuveDepartment of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Christopher J NowinskiBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4378-6149
Robert C CantuBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Ross D ZafonteDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Brigid DwyerBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
John F CraryNeuropathology Brain Bank & Research Core, Department of Pathology, Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0556-293X
Lee E GoldsteinBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Neil W KowallBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Douglas I KatzBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Robert A SternBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Yorghos TripodisBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Thor D SteinBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6954-4477
Michael D McCleanBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Michael L AloscoBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Ann C McKeeBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Jesse MezBoston University Alzheimer's Disease Research and CTE Centers, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Boston University · USAllen Institute for Brain Science · USHarvard University · USUniversity of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus · US
Funding
RL5: Research Education CoreP30AG072978 · NIA · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI Maureen Katheleen O'Connor · 2021 to 2026
$25.6MChronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: Detection, Diagnosis, Course, and Risk FactorsU01NS093334 · NINDS · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI CUMMINGS, JEFFREY L., REIMAN, ERIC MICHAEL · 2016 to 2022
$17.0MTraumatic Brain Injury and Repetitive Head Impacts: Contributions to AD/ADRD and CTE Neuropathology and Resulting Clinical SyndromesU54NS115266 · NINDS · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI MCKEE, ANN C. · 2019 to 2023
$10.3MCTE and Posttraumatic Neurodegeneration: Neuropathology and Ex Vivo ImagingU01NS086659 · NINDS · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI MCKEE, ANN C. · 2014 to 2017
$6.1MLeveraging Existing Aging Research Networks to investigate TBI and AD/ADRD risk (LEARN TBI & AD)R01AG061028 · NIA · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI DAMS-O'CONNOR, KRISTEN, MEZ, JESSE BENJAMIN · 2019 to 2023
$5.9MThe Contribution of Age-Related Taupahtoies to Alzheimer's Disease-SupplementR01AG062348 · NIA · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI CRARY, JOHN FONDA, DICKSON, DENNIS WILLIAM · 2018 to 2022
$4.5MThe Contribution of Age-Related Tauopathies to Alzheimer's DiseaseRF1AG062348 · NIA · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI John Fonda Crary, DENNIS WILLIAM DICKSON · 2023 to 2026
$4.0MRisk for Later-Life Cognitive Impairment, Neurobehavioral Dysregulation, and Dementia in Former Soccer and American Football Players: The Head Impact and Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS)R01NS119651 · NINDS · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI ALOSCO, MICHAEL · 2021 to 2025
$3.9MTraining Program in Recovery and Restoration of CNS health and functionT32NS100663 · NINDS · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI LEIGH R HOCHBERG, JONATHAN ROSAND · 2017 to 2026
$2.5MMechanisms of age-related tauopathyRF1NS095252 · NINDS · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI CRARY, JOHN FONDA · 2022 to 2022
$2.5MLate Pathologies of Exposure to Repetitive Head Impacts from Contact Sports: White Matter and Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment, Dementia, and Neuropsychiatric SymptomsRF1NS122854 · NINDS · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI ALOSCO, MICHAEL, MCKEE, ANN C. · 2021 to 2021
$2.3MChronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: Clinical Presentation and BiomarkersR01NS078337 · NINDS · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS · PI STERN, ROBERT A · 2011 to 2013
$2.0MNIA NIH HHS K23 AG046377NIA NIH HHS P30 AG072978NIA NIH HHS R01 AG017902NIA NIH HHS R01 AG061028NIA NIH HHS R01 AG062348NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG062348NICHD NIH HHS R21 HD089088NINDS NIH HHS F32 NS096803NINDS NIH HHS K23 NS102399NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS078337NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS119651NINDS NIH HHS R56 NS078337NINDS NIH HHS RF1 NS095252NINDS NIH HHS RF1 NS122854NINDS NIH HHS T32 NS100663NINDS NIH HHS U01 NS086659NINDS NIH HHS U01 NS093334NINDS NIH HHS U54 NS115266
Abstract
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative tauopathy associated with repetitive head impacts (RHI), but the components of RHI exposure underlying this relationship are unclear. We create a position exposure matrix (PEM), composed of American football helmet sensor data, summarized from literature review by player position and level of play. Using this PEM, we estimate measures of lifetime RHI exposure for a separate cohort of 631 football playing brain donors. Separate models examine the relationship between CTE pathology and players' concussion count, athletic positions, years of football, and PEM-derived measures, including estimated cumulative head impacts, linear accelerations, and rotational accelerations. Only duration of play and PEM-derived measures are significantly associated with CTE pathology. Models incorporating cumulative linear or rotational acceleration have better model fit and are better predictors of CTE pathology than duration of play or cumulative head impacts alone. These findings implicate cumulative head impact intensity in CTE pathogenesis.
Indexed as
Brain ConcussionChronic Traumatic EncephalopathyFootballAccelerometryBrainHumansMale
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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390
Registered trials
NCT07507253ClinicalTrials.gov
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.