A Canadian research team has reported early signs that it may be possible to detect suspected CTE in living people using brain scans, a step that could eventually change how the condition is identified. The team recently shared its first early results, describing them as not yet a diagnosis, but a promising start in the effort to spot the condition while a person is still alive.
The approach centres on a combination of testing and imaging. Participants first go through cognitive testing before having multiple brain scans. Researchers use an MRI to create a map of where things are occurring in the brain, and then look closely at where a tracer is accumulating at a level that is above normal, treating that pattern as a possible signature of the condition.
The team presented its findings to the wider scientific community at the end of May. On May 31, the researchers shared their first early results at a conference in Los Angeles. According to the team, the tracer did detect signs of suspected CTE in three living subjects, a result they were careful to frame as preliminary rather than conclusive.
One of the researchers explained how each case adds to the overall picture. Isabelle Boileau said that every new participant adds another puzzle piece, helping the team understand the possible patterns and hallmarks of CTE. Showing sample scans, she pointed to the areas where the tracer was accumulating at a level above what is considered normal.
The researchers were cautious about how far the findings can be pushed at this stage. They stressed that the early results amount to a promising start rather than a confirmed way to diagnose the condition. The team said that if ongoing studies back up these early results, their new approach to detect CTE through brain scans could be available to patients within the next two years at the earliest.
Behind the research are participants willing to be studied closely, among them a man named Heinz, who went through the cognitive testing and multiple brain scans. He has spoken openly about reaching his darkest days, describing how he once had a plan to end his life, crying behind the wheel while trying to act as the fun dad as his daughters sang in the back seat of the car. He got through that period with the support of his wife.
Today, Heinz tries to manage his condition through daily routine, walking regularly, maintaining a healthy diet and sleeping during the day, all to keep his symptoms at bay as best he can. He hopes his own battered brain could offer researchers new clues, and as he waits for his own results he wonders whether he will be next, saying that if he becomes the first person diagnosed with CTE while still living, then he will also be the first to beat it.