The SilentThe Silent Menace of CTE Menace of CTE Writer: Wendell Oderkirk-Alvidrez | Editor: Austin Pothikamjorn | Designer: Isha Bhandar甀਀ . hronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a unique disease that currently has no ਀ . standard for diagnosis in living persons. CTE diagnosis only occurs a昀琀er autopsy, ਀ which makes accurate reporting di昀케cult– it is commonly confused with other ਀ C neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Nevertheless, it possesses a few characteristic symptoms, which come in four stages. In stage I, patients experience headaches and loss of concentration. Stage II adds depression, short-term memory Fig. 1 b loss, and bouts of aggression. In stage III, executive dysfunction begins to develop. Stage IV is terminal, with dementia completely taking hold of the patient. These e昀昀ects y arise from neuron atrophy in brain regions responsible for emotion regulation, A lam memory, and executive function. For example, areas signi昀椀cantly impacted by CTE are the frontal and temporal cortices, which are critical for decision-making and logical y reasoning਀㠀 The neurobiological mechanisms underlying CTE progression are distinct from similar neuropathological diseases. Apart from targeting speci昀椀c areas of the brain, CTE is marked by the accumulation and aggregation of TAR DNA-binding protein 43, a protein essential in DNA repair. However, the primary biomarker of CTE is tau protein aggregates, which are the same biomarker for Alzheimer’s Disease਀㠀 Fig. 2 b y B uddhis tⴀ਀ door Global 7