MND Association invests in MND and traumatic brain injury research

The Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association has collaborated with charities MND Scotland and My Name’5 Doddie Foundation to fund new research looking into whether traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can lead to an increase in the risk of developing MND.  

Recent studies have reported an increased risk of elite football and rugby players developing neurodegenerative diseases, including MND. One theory is that brain injuries experienced during such sport may contribute to the risk of developing the disease.  

The new project - Traumatic brain injury and motor neuron disease (T-MND) - is led by Professor William Stewart and his team at the University of Glasgow. They have been awarded £45,000 to use an existing electronic health records database to investigate whether there is a relationship between TBI and MND. The database, which contains over 61 million health records, has already been used for studies into conditions like dementia. 

The hope is that by identifying and understanding the risk factors for MND, clinicians and researchers may be able to find strategies for lowering the risk of developing MND and ways to detect it.  

Dr Nick Cole, Head of Research at the MND Association said: “MND is an extremely complex disease and we desperately need to know more about any potential links between traumatic brain injuries and the onset of MND. The hope of this project is to identify any potential modifiable factors which would provide an important step forward to potentially lower the risk of this condition. Thank you to all our supporters without who we could not fund vital research in the fight to end MND.” 

In addition to investing in this project, the MND Association has joined an MND and Sport Expert Working Group, which is led by MND Scotland and seeks to better understand the potential link between sport and the disease.