A Finite Element Study of the Dynamic Response of Brain Based on Two Parasagittal Slice Models

The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of gyri and sulci on the response of human head under transient loading. To this end, two detailed parasagittal slice models with and without gyri and sulci have been developed. The models comprised not only cerebrum and skull but also cerebellum, brain stem, CSF, and corpus callosum. In addition, white and gray matters were separated. The material properties were adopted from the literature and assigned to different parts of the models. Nahum's and Trosseille's experiments reported in relevant literature were simulated and the simulation results were compared with the test data. The results show that there is no evident difference in terms of intracranial pressure between the models with and without gyri and sulci under simulated conditions. The equivalent stress below gyri and sulci in the model with gyri and sulci is slightly higher than that in the counterpart model without gyri and sulci. The maximum principle strain in brain tissue is lower in the model with gyri and sulci. The stress and strain distributions are changed due to the existence of gyri and sulci. These findings highlight the necessity to include gyri and sulci in the finite element head modeling.