The Professional Athletes Brain Health Study (PABHS) is a well-established longitudinal cohort through the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. This study, also supported by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), began in 2011 and currently contains annual data on nearly 900 professional athletes and age-matched controls. Initially including boxers and mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, the cohort has now added motorsports, rodeo, hockey, and several other sports on the way.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is highly correlated with exposure to repetitive head impacts, most notably among professional boxing and American football. The PABHS was developed by Dr. Charles Bernick, a neurologist at Cleveland Clinic, to observe longitudinal changes in the brain among active and retired professional athletes. The goal of this cohort is to better understand the progression of neurodegeneration related to head impacts, ultimately improving diagnosis and prevention of neurodegenerative disorders such as CTE. Details of this ongoing study can be found in the interactive dashboard below:
Professional Athlete Brain Health Study – Interactive Data Dashboard
