What is CTE? And can it turn you into a mass murderer?

Tamerlan Tsarnaev died last week in a final shoot-out with the police, leaving us with few clues as to why he and his brother chose to turn into terrorists and attack the Boston marathon. One theory is related to the fact that Tsarnaev was once an amateur boxer. Could he have taken a few too many blows to the head? How many is too many? And how many times do you have to be hit, before you go insane and decide to slaughter innocent people in the most public way possible?

Two neurosurgeons at Boston University say that Tsarnaev's remains should be examined for signs of chronic traumatic encephalophathy (CTE) which is the clinical term for the damage caused by repeated blows to the head and concussions. CTE has become big news in the sporting world, particularly in the NFL where several former athletes have been diagnosed with CTE after a career of being advised to "shake it off."

Head injuries may actually be a great deal more severe than we have been thinking all along. The conventional wisdom is that if you get a concussion, wait 24 hours, and if you're fine, then you're fine. But concussions may have lasting neurological effects, including depression, apathy, irritability, suicidal tendencies and impaired impulse control.

Furthermore, CTE is a degenerative condition which gradually worsens even in the absence of any further concussions. CTE is considered a contributing factor in the murder-suicide of a wrestler named Chris Benoit, and the suicides of athletes Dave Duerson and Derek Boogaard.

However, it seems that CTE could be a mild contributing factor at the very most. After all, millions of people sustain head injuries every year, and the overwhelming majority of football players and boxers do not go on to become cold-blooded mass murderers.

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