LSU, Delaware and Johns Hopkins Researchers Examine the Mechanics of the Human Brain

What actually happens to the human brain during a car crash or a hard fall? How do large, rapid forces deform brain tissue, and why do these deformations lead to traumatic brain injuries (TBI)?

These are the questions at the heart of a collaborative research project led by us at the Soft Materials Mechanics Lab, in partnership with the University of Delaware and Johns Hopkins University. Backed by a $880,000 National Science Foundation Collaborative Research Grant, our goal is to uncover the extreme mechanics of the living human brain!

Dr. Upadhyay's students configuring the Kolksy bar for high strain rate testing procedures on the brain

Why This Matters: A New Frontier in Brain Injury Research

Current computational models for predicting brain injury rely heavily on data from cadaveric (ex vivo) brain tissue. But growing evidence shows that living brain tissue behaves very differently—especially under the kind of high-speed, high-impact forces that cause concussions and other TBIs. Since we cannot experimentally test dangerous loading conditions in living humans, there's a critical gap in our understanding. Our project aims to close that gap using a novel combination of experiments and machine learning.

Meet the Team

The project is led by Dr. Kshitiz Upadhyay, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at LSU. He is joined by Dr. Curtis Johnson, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware, and Dr. Michael Shields, Associate Professor of Civil and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Together, we bring a multidisciplinary approach to one of the most challenging problems in biomechanics.

Stage 1: Imaging the Brain Like Never Before

In the first phase, Dr. Johnson’s lab will perform the first-ever wide-band magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) scans on human brain tissue from cadavers. These scans will measure how brain tissue responds to small but rapid deformations. When combined with Dr. Johnson’s earlier in vivo MRE data from healthy human subjects, these datasets will allow our team to begin building new computational models of brain mechanics across a wide range of loading rates.

Stage 2: Testing the Brain’s Limits

At LSU, our lab will conduct large-deformation mechanical tests on cadaveric brain tissue under varying strain rates to study the nonlinear response of the brain. Using these results, we will develop material models that capture the complex visco-hyperelastic response of the brain and describe how it behaves under extreme conditions. These models will then be used by Dr. Shields’ lab to build advanced multi-fidelity simulations that help us extrapolate to what would happen inside a living human brain.

The Big Picture: Modeling the Living Brain

This project will result in a groundbreaking experimental-computational framework that enables us to predict how a living brain responds to traumatic loading—without ever needing to test dangerous impacts directly. Our work not only fills a critical gap in experimental biomechanics, but also advances the development of better predictive tools for TBI, improved protective gear, and more effective injury prevention strategies.