CTE Study Blows Whistle on Concussions, Redefines Risks

Decades of debate over sports-related brain injuries has centered on concussions, but new research linking less severe head impacts to neurological diseases promises to reorient that discussion—and league liability when an injured athlete sues, lawyers tell Bloomberg Law.

Researchers led by Boston University’s CTE Center announced Jan. 18 that repetitive hits to the head, not concussions, are the barometer for later-life degenerative brain disorders, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. The report will likely shift public attention away from concussions as the primary brain injury risk for millions of U.S. athletes, and spread across the spectrum of sports-related brain injury ...