Simulation of a human head subject to a lateral rotational impact and study on the cause of a diffuse axonal injury

This paper aims to study the cause of a Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) due to an impact. FEM simulation of a human head was conducted to understand intracranial response under a lateral impact. The obtained results showed that stresses are distributed in specific areas: the corpus callosum, the brain stem and the inside of the temporal lobe. It was confirmed that the localisations of brain functions in the greater stress areas correspond to the residual disorders in a DAI. It is expected that injury to the brain stem and the cerebral limbic system is in fact a DAI.