The Invisible War on the Brain

National Geographic

Lee Goldstein, MD, PhD, psychiatry, neurology, ophthalmology

Brain trauma from blast force is the signature injury of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns, afflicting hundreds of thousands of U.S. combat personnel. Although unseen, the damage strikes deeply into a soldier’s mind and psyche.

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To test the theory that blast exposure may have triggered CTE pathology, Goldstein’s team exposed mice to a single shock-tube blast that simulated the effects of a moderate-size explosive. High-speed cameras captured the results—a rapid bobble-head effect, as the heads of the mice shook back and forth in reaction to the force. In 30 milliseconds, far less than the blink of an eye, the oscillating wind had spiked and dipped nine times. “In one blast you’re really getting multiple hits,” Goldstein said. “So it’s like you’re packing a whole bunch of hits into a very short time.”

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