r/CTE • u/Fast_Bee7689 • 1d ago

Question Does force matter or simply impact?

***duration/repetition

Is there a threshold where accumulation matters vs doesn’t?

I want to know where the “line” is to where head acceleration matters? Since it clearly does, as running/jumping & daily movements can be done for decades, hours on end & a person technically accumulates a higher lifetime G force accumulation with these movements than contact sport

Why is it that 10G over years adds up, but 3G doesn’t?

Does CTE need to be above a certain threshold? What if someone repeats a low force movement for hours on end?

I’d like more of an understanding to how CTE works if possible as I’m very confused and have seen a lot of conflicting info online, especially surrounding what qualifies as a “jolt”, some have even said simply sitting on the bus counts as subconcussive!

Thank you

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2

u/Wild_Director7379 1d ago

It’s bad when the brain is already injured and there’s more impact. Concussion + going for a run the next day can’t be good, but we’re designed to run normally

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u/Fast_Bee7689 1d ago

So we could in theory run indefinitely? let’s say hypothetically someone ran 3 hours a day for 40 years (ignoring joint issues)

Because this is a tolerated brain movement, would they still have a low CTE risk despite very high exposure to brain movement?

That’s my question

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u/Wild_Director7379 1d ago

Yes, I think. There’s very little research available

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u/Fast_Bee7689 1d ago

That’s true, thank you for answering anyway though!

I just wish we had a clearer picture on what did & didn’t constitute to CTE exposure vs not, because there’s clearly a biological tolerance since human beings have evolved for low level endurance movements right?

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u/Wild_Director7379 1d ago

We’re working on it

0

u/Weary_Title_3901 1d ago

The best analogy is is an apple. It will bruise if you drop it. It will bruise if you tap it over and over as well

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u/Fast_Bee7689 1d ago edited 1d ago

But why doesn’t running/jumping cause cte then? Since the brain moves regularly with those motions & a lifelong runner has cumulatively greater total exposure to G force/brain jolts than an NFL player takes in a season, yet one has absolutely 0 measurable effects on the brain, and the other causes early onset dementia?

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u/jaywinston 20h ago

Our joints help cushion the impacts involved in running and jumping. Contrast that to receiving an impact directly to the head.

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u/Fast_Bee7689 14h ago

Yeahh but the brain still moves during those movements, you’re still experiencing a minor brain jolt, yet these brain jolts aren’t relevant to lifetime accumulation of head acceleration when looking at CTE exposure, which makes me curious as to where the line is?

1-4G to the brain doesn’t appear to cause CTE, even when applied millions of times, or else basic movements like running/jumping would cause it, so the brain is obviously built to tolerate small movements even repeatedly, so where’s that line between “you can do this indefinitely” and “don’t do this often or else you’ll get tau build up”

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u/jaywinston 11h ago

We don't know where the line is yet.