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4 Headlines MAKING HEADWAY The sports-loving scientists There is growing evidence that contact sport, at any level, puts our brains at risk. Of increasing concern is chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma. CTE is associated with early-onset dementia. However, researchers are seeking more clinical evidence to better understand the link, and therefore the best way to prevent and treat head injury. Sports-related head injuries account for only 20% of concussions (the vast majority are the result of falls), but they are of great importance to neurological research as little is known about mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) — the smaller head knocks. MTBIs can occur hundreds if not thousands of times over a player’s career. Neuroscientists are keen to understand if this can lead to disease or change how a person thinks, acts, and feels. However, one of the big challenges facing researchers is that CTE can only be diagnosed in brain tissue after death, leaving many unanswered questions. How do we know if someone will develop dementia after years of mild head injuries? How do we know if someone has Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or CTE? Are there other factors at play? We talk to three researchers at different institutions who are funded by the Neurological Foundation to study head injury and sport. Curiously, they are all passionate players and coaches of sports where head knocks are common. Together, they hope to fill in the blanks. DR HELEN MURRAY Neuroscientist and national ice hockey representative “There’s this whole community of athlete brain researchers in New Zealand. It’s quite unique,” says Dr Helen Murray, who is based at the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank at the University of Auckland. “It's nice because we have shared interests, we talk to each other, and we are all approaching head injury research from different perspectives.” Dr Helen Murray at age 32 is the country's most knowledgeable CTE expert, and a forward (and former captain) of the Ice Fernz, the national women’s ice hockey team. She has just been awarded a Neurological Foundation Senior Research Fellowship. Dr Murray aims to reveal new knowledge of CTE by comparing 30 precious brain tissue samples collected post- mortem from 10 cases of confirmed CTE, 10 cases of AD, and 10 healthy controls. “We have the incredible resource of tissue donated to the Sports Brain Bank in Auckland, and we are fortunate to have the support of the UNITE Brain Bank in Boston, and the Australian Sports Brain Bank, where we are also sourcing samples.” Her study is using a novel method of tissue labelling, called multiplexing, to see 50 different proteins on the same piece of brain tissue. The disease can then be explored from different angles, all at once, making the most of the incredibly precious gift of human brain tissue. Her goal is to find biomarkers – biological molecules that distinguish CTE and AD. Ideally these biomarkers could eventually be measured in blood samples so that a simple blood test could then diagnose the condition in patients. For now, in the absence of firm scientific evidence, CTE and neurodegenerative diseases such as AD cannot be definitively linked to symptoms of dementia, complicating treatment and prevention. “We hope to understand how CTE pathology looks different to Alzheimer’s disease and normal aging, so we can uncover the underlying mechanisms.” Dr Helen Murray