Fig. 5

Stacked ratio bar graphs and smoothed line graphs show CA1, CA3, and Sub to be the most severely affected regardless of CTE stage. a–c Hippocampal CA1 and CA3 as well as the subiculum (Sub) displayed the highest degree of AT8-positive tau pathology at all stages for number of neurons (a), neurite clusters (b), and dystrophic neurites (c). (Purple, PrC, perirhinal cortex; green, EC, entorhinal cortex; aqua, DG, dentate gyrus; yellow, CA3; blue, CA1; red, Sub; orange, PrS, pre−/parasubiculum) d–f Apex of pathology centered around CA1, which has afferents from CA3 and efferents to the Sub. Vertical lines represent apex of a standardized polynomial-fit regression (degree 5), applied for each stage. AT8-positive pathological tau lesions showed similar patterns for number of neurons (d), neurite clusters (e), and dystrophic neurites (f)