Uploaded September 2020 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
In a study published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, researchers at the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank found that contact sports athletes who were diagnosed with CTE were 32 times more likely than the general population to experience sleep symptoms characteristic of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD), and that the odds of reporting RBD symptoms increased by about 4 percent per year of contact sports played.
This webinar features the study's corresponding author, Thor Stein, MD, PhD, neuropathologist at VA Boston Healthcare System and assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. It is hosted by CLF co-founder and CEO Chris Nowinski, PhD.
RBD occurs when the paralysis that normally occurs during REM sleep is incomplete or absent, causing individuals to "act out" their dreams by talking, flailing their arms and legs, punching, kicking, grabbing, and more.
The study analyzed 247 brains of former athletes donated to the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank to explore the relationship between contact sports participation, multiple brain diseases, and symptoms characteristic of RBD. While an estimated 1 percent of the general population suffers from RBD, researchers found that 32 percent of the contact sports athletes with CTE experienced symptoms characteristic of RBD.
The study is the first to present a link between probable RBD, contact sports participation, and brainstem tau pathology.
In a study published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica, researchers at the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank found that contact sports athletes who were diagnosed with CTE were 32 times more likely than the general population to experience sleep symptoms characteristic of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD), and that the odds of reporting RBD symptoms increased by about 4 percent per year of contact sports played.
This webinar features the study's corresponding author, Thor Stein, MD, PhD, neuropathologist at VA Boston Healthcare System and assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. It is hosted by CLF co-founder and CEO Chris Nowinski, PhD.
RBD occurs when the paralysis that normally occurs during REM sleep is incomplete or absent, causing individuals to "act out" their dreams by talking, flailing their arms and legs, punching, kicking, grabbing, and more.
The study analyzed 247 brains of former athletes donated to the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank to explore the relationship between contact sports participation, multiple brain diseases, and symptoms characteristic of RBD. While an estimated 1 percent of the general population suffers from RBD, researchers found that 32 percent of the contact sports athletes with CTE experienced symptoms characteristic of RBD.
The study is the first to present a link between probable RBD, contact sports participation, and brainstem tau pathology.
