Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: How does it affect a person's behavior?

Experiencing multiple mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE, a neurodegenerative disease that is also linked to serious psychiatric conditions. Retired medical professional Dr. Matthew Boente MD is interested in the study of this progressive neurological illness. While the research on CTE is still lacking, medical experts are beginning to understand how it affects a person's behavior. At present, CTE cannot be diagnosed among living individuals as it requires the study of brain tissues that can only be done during an autopsy. However, experts can only pinpoint the existence of the condition with the symptoms a patient is experiencing.

For living patients with suspected CTE, personality, mood, and behavioral changes often appear a few years after experiencing mild traumatic brain injuries. According to some accounts by family members of these individuals, these people can become forgetful, depressive, paranoid, aggressive, and even violent. In some of the early studies on neurodegenerative disease, as the damage to the brain progresses, it can greatly affect parts that are responsible for processing a person's emotion and behavior. The repeated injuries to the head not only affect a person's movement but can significantly cause atrophy to parts of the brain, such as the amygdala, frontal, and orbitofrontal regions.

As someone interested in studying the condition, Dr. Matthew Boente MD believes that despite the accounts and the studies done in many cases, the link between extreme behavioral changes to CTE still needs to be explored. The research done regarding the disease is still in its early stages as it can only be done during an autopsy. However, as technology and information advance, there is hope that more research will be done to educate people on the disease and its effects.

Dr. Matthew Boente MD is a specialist in obstetrics, gynecology, and gynecologic oncology with certification from the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has also shared his expertise as an academician and consultant for pharmaceutical companies and oncology advisory boards. Visit this page for similar reads.