Researchers seek clues to head trauma in brains of dead athletes

Ann McKee of Boston University studies the brains of deceased football players at the world’s largest brain bank, hoping to learn about the long-term impact of repeated head traumas for people ranging from professional athletes to victims of domestic abuse.

“For the last 12 years, we’ve really focused on the long-term effects of head trauma, including what we call repetitive head trauma,” where the impact doesn’t cause a concussion, said McKee, chief of neuropathology at VA Boston University and director of the CTE Center of Boston University.

The VA-Boston University-Concussion Legacy Foundation Brain Bank in Boston houses 850 human brains, most of