Va. Teen's brain to be donated for CTE research

With an ever-increasing spotlight on head trauma in football, the parents of a Virginia teen who committed suicide shortly after suffering a concussion playing football will donate his brain to Boston University's Center for study of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), according to the Washington Examiner. The article, written by former Daily Pennsylvanian editor Emily Babay, says that Austin Trenum's suicide was "out of character," though it can't be linked directly to the concussion he suffered two days before his death.

The Center is the same as where former Penn football player Owen Thomas' brain was found to have early stages of CTE, a neurodegenerative disease found in athletes and linked to depression and impulse control.

Thomas' parents decided to make his case public to increase awareness of the dangers of head injuries in football. While the disease has been documented in the NFL, Thomas was the first non-professional player to develop the disease, and research in younger players is still in its infancy.