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.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The brain of Louisville bank shooter and University of Alabama graduate Connor Sturgeon is set to be tested for signs of the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, his father said. —Howard Koplowitz | [e-mail], al, 14 Apr. 2023

Adams was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. —Dianne Gallagher, CNN, 14 Apr. 2023

Last year, legendary former quarterback Brett Favre warned parents not to let their children play tackle football before age 14, saying youth football can greatly increase kids’ risk of eventually developing the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE. —Cathy Free, Washington Post, 8 Aug. 2022

Before traumatic brain injuries such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) became a forefront issue in football, some defenses in the NFL and college were taught to target offensive players' heads when tackling them, according to a former athlete. —Tesfaye Negussie, ABC News, 10 Feb. 2023

The players allege that rugby's governing bodies negligently failed to protect them from concussion and non-concussion injuries that caused various neurological disorders, including early onset dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and motor neurone disease. —Fox News, 19 Jan. 2023

Hundreds of wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits have been brought by college football players against the NCAA in the past decade, but Gee’s is the first one to reach a jury alleging that hits to the head led to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease. —Brian Melley, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Nov. 2022

His attorneys previously said Winslow suffered from symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which a brain disease linked to blows to the head in football. —Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2023

Boston University researchers said Tuesday that Irv Cross, a former NFL defensive back who became a pioneer as a sports broadcaster, most notably with CBS, suffered from Stage 4 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. —Scooby Axson, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined above

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