First-Ever Evidence of Brain Injury in Ramming Animals Confirmed

Experts from Mount Sinai School of Medicine presented the newest results of their study on the effects of headbutts exhibited by ramming animals. The results enumerate how highly the activity is correlated to brain damage in the animals and the potential injuries that humans could incur from these aggressive attacks.

Sinai Icahn School of Medicine's Nash Family Department of Neuroscience scholars discovered for the first time how the headbutts from ramming animals could inflict damage to the brain of others. The species selected for the analysis were the most powerful ramming beasts on the planet: the bighorn sheep and the muskoxen.

The findings collected from the investigation relay details that heavily contradict the popular belief that ramming mammals do not obtain injuries in their neurological organs. In addition, the data from the research could also contribute to the ongoing studies that could help us understand more about the concussion's effects on traumatic brain injuries and the treatments against it.

Traumatic Brain Injuries Detected in Ramming Animal

(Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service/Getty Images)
392886 11: This undated photo shows muskoxen in tAlaska'sArctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Bush administration's controversial plan to open the refuge to oil drilling was approved by the House of Representatives on August 2, 2001, but it faced a tough battle in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Icahn Mount Sinai specialist and lead author of the study Nicole Ackermans explained in a EurekAlert report that traumatic brain injuries resulting in neurological disabilities and death require new and effective medical solutions.

The study on the ramming animals normally engaged in headbutting activities showed how significant these brain injuries could also affect humans. The findings from these damaging activities open many opportunities for us to gain more knowledge about traumatic brain injuries, Ackermans continued.

The brain samples for the examination were extracted from four deceased bighorn sheep individuals from the states of Colorado, Utah, and the Buffalo Zoo located in New York. The organs of the muskoxen were collected from three deceased muskoxen in Greenland.

The species were carefully selected for the study due to their headbutting frequency and their intensity during activities. The extreme head-to-head collisions they demonstrate are also part of their social interactions, such as mating and hierarchical rituals.

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Link Between Brain Injuries of Animals and Humans

Icahn, neuroscience expert and co-author of the study Patrick Hof said that through the findings from these animals, we would be able to know the medical mysteries of traumatic brain injuries. Previous studies rely on data gathered from small subjects such as rodents, but this study on ramming bovids offers more than we have detailed before, Hof added.

The experts observed the brain of the deceased animals by dismantling the organ. The parts were then treated with antibodies that help in highlighting phosphorylated tau proteins. These compounds are also found in both mice and humans and are one of the most critical signals of brain damage during the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other traumatic brain injuries such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The antibodies were easily detected through microscopy imaging when applied to the muskoxen brains, while the organs from the bighorn sheep had low detectable levels. This suggests that the selected ramming animals sustain damages similar to traumatic brain injuries. The patterns were also prevalent in human patients who suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

The study was published in Acta Neuropathologica, titled "Evidence of traumatic brain injury in headbutting bovids."