LAUSR

This study investigated impact-induced strain fields within brain tissue surrogates having different cortical gyrification. Two elastomeric surrogates, one representative of a lissencephalic brain and the other of a gyrencephalic brain, were drop impacted in unison at four different heights and in two different orientations at drop height. Each surrogate contained a radiopaque speckle pattern that was used to calculate strain fields. Two different approaches, digital image correlation (DIC) and particle tracking methods, enabled comparisons of full-field and localized strain responses. The DIC results demonstrated increased localized deviations from the mean strain field in the surrogate with a gyrified cortex. Particle tracking algorithms defining 4-node quadrilateral elements, were used to investigate the differences in the strain response of three regions: the base of a sulcus, the adjacent gyrus, and the internal capsule of the surrogates. The results demonstrated that the strains in the cortex were concentrated at the sulcal base. This mechanical mechanism of increased strain is consistent with neurodegenerative markers observed in post-mortem analyses, suggesting a potential mechanism of local damage due to strain amplification at the sulcal bases in gyrencephalic brains. This strain amplification mechanism may be responsible for cumulative neurodegeneration from repeated subconcussive impact. The observed results suggest that lissencephalic animal models, such as rodents, would not have the same modes of injury present in a gyrencephalic brain, such as that of a human. As such, a shift towards representative mild traumatic brain injury animal models having gyrencephalic cortical structures should be strongly considered.