chronic traumatic encephalopathy

noun

: a progressive neurological disease that is found especially in athletes (such as boxers, wrestlers, or football players) who have experienced repetitive, mild injury to the brain and that is characterized by short-term memory loss, concentration deficits, confusion, depression, behavioral and personality changes (such as an increase in irritability, impulsivity, or aggression), speech and gait abnormalities, parkinsonism, and dementia

—abbreviation CTE

called also dementia pugilistica, punch-drunk syndrome

Note: The neurological deterioration of chronic traumatic encephalopathy is accompanied by atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes and accumulation of tau protein in neurofibrillary tangles.

Examples of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The findings suggest that damage to the brain can occur well before, or independent of, a diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. —The New York Times News Service Syndicate, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Oct. 2025

The gunman who killed four people in an NYC office building in July had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to the New York City medical examiner’s office. —Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2025

What's more, the brain area in question here overlaps with regions often affected in traumatic brain injury and, in some athletes with many years of head impacts, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). —New Atlas, 27 Sep. 2025

Like Mangione, Tamura left behind a piece of evidence for investigators to find, blaming the NFL and football for causing chronic traumatic encephalopathy. —Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chronic traumatic encephalopathy

• cardiomyopathy
• coagulopathy
• homoeopathy
• polyneuropathy
• radiculopathy
• enteropathy
• myelopathy
• retinopathy
• myopathy
• psychopathy

Medical Definition

chronic traumatic encephalopathy

noun

: a progressive neurological disease that is found especially in athletes (as boxers, wrestlers, or football players) who have experienced repetitive, typically minor injury (as concussion) to the brain and is characterized by short-term memory loss, concentration deficits, confusion, depression, behavioral and personality changes (such as an increase in irritability, impulsivity, or aggression), speech and gait abnormalities, parkinsonism, and dementia

—abbreviation CTE

called also dementia pugilistica, punch-drunk syndrome

Note: The neurological deterioration of chronic traumatic encephalopathy is accompanied by atrophy of the frontal and temporal lobes and accumulation of tau protein in neurofibrillary tangles.

… it is only in the past decade that scientists have identified the problem in American football players. They have also been able to identify, on autopsy, pathological markers for the disease, now called chronic traumatic encephalopathy …

—Jeffrey Bartholet, Scientific American

[Dr. Robert] Cantu said that symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy include depression and erratic behavior, but he declined to speculate on any role the condition played in Benoit's final violent acts.

—Alan Schwarz, The New York Times