Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) Imaging Study of Professional American Football Players

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) Imaging Study of Professional American Football Players

Brain Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography and Quantitative Electroencephalography In Former NFL Players: A Single-Site Exploratory Pilot Study

The investigators primary objective is to acquire preliminary data on one-hundred former NFL veterans with at least one full year of professional service using brain SPECT imaging in order to assess the degree to which NFL football puts players at risk for traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI severity shall be gauged via visual inspection by a clinician trained in neuroanatomy, and also by a statistical comparison of subjects' brains to an in-house proprietary database comprised of the brains of healthy subjects. The investigators secondary objective is to acquire additional data on these players such that investigators may establish causative factors and risks associated with said TBI. The investigators tertiary objective is to acquire data on subjects using various mental health metrics in order to determine the effects of TBI.

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A concentration SPECT scan will be given to assess the changes in regional cerebral blood flow to the brain in our study participants.

For the concentration study the subject will start the Conner's Continuous Performance Task, a 15-minute computer-administered test of attention, subsequent to the accommodation period. Three minutes into task performance 20 milliCuries of Tc-99m-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime will be injected through the catheter with attention to minimal disruption of the subject's attention task. The subject will proceed to completion of the attention task. The concentration scans will then be compared to a healthy brain subject normative database.

The SPECT scan is one day imaging exam. A follow up scan will be performed following a 2-12 month supplement intervention.

Quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) will be used to assess the damage to neural networks in our study participants.

Subjects will undergo quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) testing in both the eyes open and eyes closed condition to measure the electrical activity patterns of the brain. Brain maps will be generated and compared against a normative database.

The QEEG testing is one day exam. A follow up test will be performed following a 2-12 month supplement intervention.

Inclusion Criteria: Subjects must be at least 18 years of age Each subject must have been on an active NFL roster for a minimum of one year Exclusion Criteria: Any subjects who could not cease taking psychoactive medications (recreational or otherwise) for an appropriate washout period prior to scanning were excluded from the study

Amen DG, Newberg A, Thatcher R, Jin Y, Wu J, Keator D, Willeumier K. Impact of playing American professional football on long-term brain function. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2011 Winter;23(1):98-106. doi: 10.1176/jnp.23.1.jnp98.

Amen DG, Wu JC, Taylor D, Willeumier K. Reversing brain damage in former NFL players: implications for traumatic brain injury and substance abuse rehabilitation. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2011 Jan-Mar;43(1):1-5. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2011.566489.