10/29/2026
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2026/nfl-brain-disease-boston-study/
Over the past 20 years, research at BU’s world-leading CTE Center has shown how the disease affects proteins in the brain and disrupts cell function, tying the condition to a range of symptoms, including memory loss, aggression, poor impulse control, and slow movement. The center’s researchers have also found that CTE can cause dementia. Although CTE can currently only be diagnosed after death, BU research has pointed to repetitive head impacts, like those in high-impact sports, as a cause.
“We have to learn from this data to make the game safer,” says former football star Matt Hasselbeck