Irish scientists have discovered a new feature of a degenerative brain condition, which may have an impact on how it is diagnosed and treated.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a rare condition that has been linked with repetitive mild traumatic brain injuries, such as concussion sustained by athletes like boxers.

Symptoms can include memory loss, confusion, aggression and impaired judgement. Currently, the condition can only be diagnosed after death following an analysis of brain tissue.

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) have published a report on a person diagnosed with CTE after they had died. The scientists examined the brain tissue of the individual and found damage to the blood vessels there.

The brain's blood vessels are different to other blood vessels because they have unique properties that control what gets into or out of the neural tissue. This is known as the blood brain barrier (BBB) and a compromised BBB has been linked to other neurological conditions, including Alzheimer's disease.

"While this is only a case report, it provides the first ever evidence that CTE is directly associated with damage to the BBB. Additionally, the pathology we observed was similar to that seen in cases of brain trauma, suggesting a definitive link between repetitive mild traumatic brain injuries and CTE," explained Dr Matthew Campbell of TCD.

The scientists said that these findings are not only important for our understanding on CTE, 'but they also suggest we can use clinical tools to determine if the BBB is damaged in life in individuals exposed to repetitive mild traumatic brain injuries'.

"Understanding how CTE develops will be critical to identifying new ways to detect its onset in living subjects in addition to developing therapies for this rare but socially important brain disorder," added consultant neuropathologist, Prof Michael Farrell of the Dublin Brain Bank.

The team from Trinity worked with the Dublin Brain Bank, Beaumont Hospital and St James's Hospital on this case. Details of their findings are published in The Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology.