Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Depression, Mental Health Research, UT Southwestern / 04.06.2013
Depressive symptoms and white matter dysfunction in retired NFL players with concussion history
MedicalResearch.com eInterview with:
John Hart, M.D.
Medical Science Director at the Center for BrainHealth
Jane and Bud Smith Distinguished Chair
Cecil Green Distinguished Chair
The University of Texas at Dallas
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Hart: Football players often sustain numerous concussive and subconcussive impacts—head impacts that do not elicit neurologic symptoms that may lead to white matter damage. We evaluated a population of retired NFL players in order to study the relationship between white matter integrity and the manifestation of depressive symptoms. We identified, for the first time, a correlation between depression and white matter abnormalities in former players with a remote history of concussion using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
Our data demonstrated a significant association between white matter integrity, as measured by DTI Fractional Anisotropy (FA), and the presence as well as severity of depressive symptoms in retired NFL athletes with a history of concussive or subconcussive impacts. We also found that dysfunction of the anterior aspect of the corpus callosum (forceps minor) and its projections to the frontal lobe can identify those with depression with 100% sensitivity and 95% specificity.
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