dementia pugilistica

boxer's dementia

dementia resulting from cumulative damage sustained over some years in boxing, with slowed thought, memory loss, dysarthria, and other movement disorders.

Synonym(s): dementia pugilistica

dementia pugilistica

(pyo͞o′jə-lĭs′tĭ-kə)

n.

A condition seen especially in boxers, caused by repeated cerebral concussions and characterized by weakness in the lower limbs, unsteadiness of gait, slowness of muscular movements, hand tremors, hesitancy of speech, and cognitive impairment.

Boxers’ encephalopathy refers to the constellation of major neuropsychologic defects in amateur and career boxers—affecting 10–20% of the latter group—and is the cumulative result of recurrent brain damage and progressive communicating hydrocephalus due to extrapyramidal and cerebellar lesions. Wechsler and Bender Gestalt testing reveals variable organic mental disease and impaired short-term memory, dysarthria, nystagmus, reasoning ability, and motor skills. Acute boxing injuries include cerebral oedema, ischemia, and temporal or uncal herniation

dementia pugilistica

Traumatic dementia, i.e., encephalopathy or an organic brain syndrome caused by closed head injury. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as “boxer's brain.”

See also: dementia