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Current Understanding of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

  • Traumatic Brain Injury (JR Couch, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Neurology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a unique neurodegenerative disease found in individuals with a history of repetitive head impacts. The neuropathology of CTE is increasingly well defined. Prospective, longitudinal studies with post-mortem neuropathologic validation as well as in vivo diagnostic techniques are needed in order to advance the understanding of CTE clinically. Given the large number of individuals who incur concussions and other forms of brain trauma, this is an important area for scientific and public health inquiry.

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Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Christine M. Baugh and Clifford A. Robbins declare that their institution has received R01 grant support from the NIH. Robert A. Stern declares that his institution has received R01 grant support from the NIH. Dr. Stern also declares the receipt of consulting fees from Athena Diagnostics, as well as gifts to his institution from the National Football League, the Andlinger Foundation, and the NFL Players Association. Dr. Stern also receives royalties from Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., for psychological tests developed, and he has received consulting fees from law firms in cases involving sports-related brain trauma. Ann C. McKee declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boston University School of Medicine, CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 E. Concord Street, Suite B7800, Boston, MA, 02118, USA

    Christine M. Baugh MPH, Clifford A. Robbins BA, Robert A. Stern PhD & Ann C. McKee MD

  2. Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Christine M. Baugh MPH, Robert A. Stern PhD & Ann C. McKee MD

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert A. Stern PhD

  4. Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert A. Stern PhD & Ann C. McKee MD

  5. Department of Pathology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Ann C. McKee MD

  6. VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA

    Ann C. McKee MD

Authors
  1. Christine M. Baugh MPH
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  2. Clifford A. Robbins BA
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  3. Robert A. Stern PhD
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  4. Ann C. McKee MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert A. Stern PhD.

Additional information

Robert A. Stern and Ann C. McKee contributed equally to the manuscript.

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Traumatic Brain Injury

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Baugh, C.M., Robbins, C.A., Stern, R.A. et al. Current Understanding of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Curr Treat Options Neurol 16, 306 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11940-014-0306-5

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