Our squishy brain tissue is already damaged by just one knock to the head, according to past research.
A new study shows how concussions can affect the skull bone.
The researchers were interested in how repetitive concussions, a type of mild traumatic brain injury, could affect the bones of the skull.
The brain can be affected by concussive impacts, but we have been ignoring the effect of the skull.
The structural changes in the skull of rats were examined using high-resolution brain images and tissue staining techniques.
The impact on bone growth and structure of concussions is poorly understood.
The team found that the thicker bones in the skull were the result of repeated concussions. The changes became more noticeable after 10 weeks.
From 2 to 10 weeks after an injury, the bones in the skull lose their volume. The team didn't measure the strength of the skull bones if they differed from one another.
The consequences of repeated concussions for individuals may be affected by the skull.
Even though bones are strong, they are actually living tissues that respond to mechanical forces and hormones.
We know that concussions damage brain tissue, but we don't know how cranial bones respond to head injuries.
The researchers suggest that it could shed light on how the meninges and skull periosteum are affected by trauma.
According to findings from past research, there is a complex relationship between bone and brain injury that likely extends beyond responsiveness to the direct mechanical forces applied by a head impact.
Future studies should take into account how the whole head is impacted.
It's not clear if a thicker skull is a protective response or a sign of something worse, something which future studies could try to resolve.
It's a bit of a dilemma. Repeated concussions can have a negative effect on the brain. It's not a good thing that concussion is a good thing.
A recent study found that a third of people who had a mild concussion still had symptoms eight years later. Studies show that a single blow to the head can cause a cascade of cellular damage in the brain.
Studies on concussion and how it affects the brain are limited by what samples researchers can get access to, and so on.
Valuable 'brain banks' that researchers can use to put changes in brain tissue under the microscope are a result of sports people donating their brains.
One recent mouse study found that head injuries can change brain-wide neural networks, providing good insight into how the brain responds to trauma.
There's still a lot we don't know about how brain damage after injury affects men and women.
The time interval between head injuries and the age at which they occur may affect bone changes.
Although there is a scarcity of published literature on skull responses after mild head impacts, cranial bone thickness has previously been reported in the context of hydrocephalus.
The study was published in a scientific journal.
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