This project will define the prevalence of brain health (i.e., normal cognitive, neuromotor, behavioral function) in living professional football retirees and group-matched controls through a comprehensive assessment of clinical, neuroimaging, and biomarker measures.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
300
Comprehensive testing of cognitive function and brain health.
A series of tests and questionnaires that asses vestibular function, balance, ocular-motor coordination, and reflexes.
A full assessment of sleep health, including insomnia (duration, frequency, daytime consequences) and other sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. Overnight sleep study is included.
University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurosurgery
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
RECRUITINGRates of Brain Health versus Cognitive Impairment
The diagnosis of cognitive impairment is based on the ADRC National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) criteria for mild cognitive impairment. This criteria is adjudicated following a comprehensive neuropsychological exam, and includes: (1) Self- or informant-reported cognitive complaint, (2) Objective cognitive impairment, (3) Preserved independence in functional abilities, and (4) No dementia.
Time frame: 1-week
Clinical Syndromes of Neurodegeneration
The determination of trauma-related neurodegeneration will be based on: 1) presence of cognitive deficits, and/or neuromotor manifestations, and/or behavioral/mood-related symptoms; 2) PET scans demonstrating abnormal amyloid and/or tau deposition; 3) quantitative MR evidence of cortical volume loss and/or white matter injury; and 4) elevated CSF tau/Aβ42 ratio. These multiple measures will be combined to arrive at a single overall outcome measure. This will be adjudicated at a blinded Diagnostic Consensus Conference comprised of experts from each field.
Time frame: 1-week
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A high-resolution MRI to provide qualitative and quantitative assessments of brain structure.
Participants will undergo an executive history and physical exam of all body systems.
These assessments will involve a series of tests and questionnaires that focus on physical function.
A blood draw will be performed to measure standard clinical labs as part of a full history and physical, as well as additional analysis of biomarkers indicative of brain health. An optional lumbar puncture will be performed and CSF samples (20-30 mL) stored in the NCTC Biorepository until shipment to the CLIA-certified laboratory. Both CSF and blood samples will be analyzed for t-tau, p-tau, and Aβ42 and stored for future testing,
Hearth health is evaluated through testing of arterial stiffness and pulse wave reflections using a high fidelity applanation tonometer.
PET imaging of the brain using tau and amyloid ligands.
PET imaging of the brain using an amyloid ligand.
PET imaging of the brain using a tau ligand.