#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
It's in the works. There is active research to identify a tracer that will "light up" certain proteins felt to be associated with CTE. It probably will be some type of PET scan, and may have the added benefit of diagnosing Alzheimer's depending upon which proteins uptake the tracer.That may be difficult because there is not a test to determine if someone has CTE. Because CTE is a relatively new area of exploration for researchers and physicians, formal clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing CTE do not yet exist. A definitive diagnosis can only be made through an autopsy after death.
The question really is where the line is drawn between evidence of the protein and the clinical diagnosis. My guess is that it will be a process, wherein a neurologist will combine the imaging with other neuropsych testing to ultimately get some type of score and/or grading system.
As I mentioned above, the most intriguing aspect is how the diagnosis will impact legal culpability. That could get real interesting.
Along similar lines, several years ago two women in Great Britain got off for murder using "menstrual psychosis" as a defense.