Family History of Mental Illness Tied to Aggression in Those With CTE

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) pathology influences the effect of first-degree family history of mental illness (1°FHMI) on aggression among individuals with a history of repetitive exposure to head impacts, according to a study published online Nov. 27 in Neurology.

Madeline Uretsky, from the Boston University Alzheimer”s Disease Research Center and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center, and colleagues conducted a retrospective examination of consecutive, deceased, male brain donors with repetitive impact exposure to assess whether CTE pathology affects the association between 1°FHMI and aggression.

Data were included for 845 brain donors; 69.7 percent had CTE and 45.3 percent had a 1°FHMI. The researchers observed a significant association between 1°FHMI and standardized adult Brown-Goodwin Assessment for Lifetime History of Aggression (BGLHA) scores in those with, but not those without, CTE (β = 0.16 for those with CTE). Among those with CTE, the largest effects were seen for those aged 40 to 59 years (β = 0.64), especially for BGLHA factors of emotional dysregulation/impulsiveness (β = 1.68) and antisocial behavior (β = 1.56).

“In a postmortem sample of male contact sport athletes and military veterans, 1°FHMI was significantly associated with increased aggression on the retrospective, informant-based BGHLA scale among brain donors with CTE, but not among donors without CTE,” the authors write. “This relationship was driven by donors with CTE who died between 40 and 59 years.”

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

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