🧠 When the Wiring Breaks: Why Some Explode

We like to believe that good people stay good. That our choices always come from who we are inside. But when the brain is injured, especially the parts that manage impulse, empathy, and judgment, that line starts to blur.

Researchers at Boston University’s CTE Center have spent years studying what happens when repeated trauma from sports hits, blast exposure, or combat damages the frontal lobe, the part of the brain that keeps emotion in check. [1] The result isn’t just memory loss or tremors. It’s disinhibition, which simply means the brain loses its brakes.

That’s why so many stories look alike. A respected athlete suddenly snaps. A soldier explodes over something small. A police officer crosses a line he never would have before. It’s not about morality. It’s about neurology.

When the wiring that controls emotion and self-control is damaged, people can swing from calm to catastrophic in seconds. Brain scans show less activity in the prefrontal cortex and more in the amygdala, the brain’s alarm system. That imbalance makes fight responses trigger faster and last longer than they should. [2][3]

Here’s the hardest part. Most of the time, these men and women aren’t seen as injured. They’re labeled violent.

The NFL case of Aaron Hernandez brought CTE into the spotlight, but he wasn’t alone. In 2023, researchers found that the same types of frontal-lobe CTE lesions seen in athletes also appear in veterans and others who later commit impulsive acts of aggression, including homicide or suicide. [4]
It doesn’t excuse behavior. It explains it. And that understanding could lead to help instead of judgment.

By the time symptoms appear like paranoia, anger, confusion, many are already isolated and misunderstood. They pull away because they don’t know what’s happening, or they’re ashamed to say it out loud.

This matters for every family who’s loved someone before the wiring broke. They’re desperate to believe there’s still a way back.

So what can we do?

• Recognize the early signs. Sudden irritability or emotional detachment can be neurological, not just a bad temper.

• Push for screenings and research funding instead of punishment.

• Hold compassion next to accountability. Both can exist in the same room.

Behind every headline is a human story that could have gone differently if someone had seen the injury instead of the outburst.

References:
[1] Boston University CTE Center. “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Overview.” 2024.
[2] National Institutes of Health. “Frontal Lobe Dysfunction and Aggression.” 2023.
[3] McKee, A. et al. Brain, Oxford University Press, 2022.
[4] Stern, R. A., et al. “Behavioral and Neuropathological Findings in CTE.” Annals of Neurology, 2023.