A new study of former athletes with chronic traumatic encephalopathy has revealed that the disease appears to show up in one of two ways. Depression and behavioral changes are more likely to show up earlier and memory loss later on.

Researchers deduced this after talking to the relatives of 36 people with the brain condition indentified on an autopsy. However, all but three had shown symptom patterns in line with those two trajectories.

It has been called as a marginal step or first stab by experts to determine the course of the disease. They also said that studied are needed to track and test living athletes after a head injury.

Dr. Ramon Diaz-Arrastia studies traumatic brain injury at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Rockville, Maryland. He said, "The findings are certainly consistent with what other studies have been pointing to with this condition. We need to be able to have a way, during life, that we can make a diagnosis of this condition".

Athletes are highly likely to suffer from CTE because of repeated concussions and other blows to the head during their careers. CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in deceased athletes.

After the recent suicides of several hockey and football players, the condition attracted the attention of nation. One of them was former San Diego Chargers star, Junior Seau, who committed suicide in 2012.