NHL players slow to donate brains for concussion research

According to Ann McKee, MD, chief of neuropathology at VA Boston and director of Boston University’s CTE Center, hockey is falling behind football in posthumous brain donation.

"We're not nearly as far in hockey [research] as we are in football because we just don't have the same numbers," McKee told ESPN.com, as reported on the website by author Josh Cooper.

Back in July, a JAMA study revealed that, of the 111 deceased NFL players whose brains were checked for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), all but one came back positive. McKee was involved in that research. To date, the CTE Center at Boston University has completed neuropathology on the brains of 16 hockey players. Nine of those brains tested positive for CTE.

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Michael Walter
Michael Walter, Managing Editor

Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.

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