Ashfaq Adnan, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington, and his postdoctoral associate Yuan Ting Wu recently published research findings in the journal Scientific Reports revealing that if battlefield blasts may cause cavitation in the brain’s perineuronal nets, which, in turn, may collapse and cause neuronal damage.

Cavitation is the development of bubbles, much like those that develop around a ship’s spinning propellers.

Existing scans and medical technology cannot detect whether cavitation bubble forms inside the brain due to blasts or how these blasts affect a person’s individual neurons, the brain cells responsible for processing and transmitting information by electrochemical signaling. Adnan’s research focuses on studying the structural damage in neurons and the surrounding perineuronal nets area in the brain. He then determines the point at which mechanical forces may damage the PNN or injure the neurons.

Adnan’s paper, a result of research supported by a grant through the Office of Naval Research’s Warfighter Performance Department and UTA, is titled, “Effect of shock–induced cavitation bubble collapse on the damage in the simulated perineuronal nets of the brain.”

“This study reveals that if a blast–like event affects the brain under certain circumstances, the mechanical forces could damage the perineuronal net located adjacent to the neurons, which could lead to damage of the neurons themselves. It is important to prove this concept so that future research may address how to prevent cavitation damage and better protect our soldiers,” Adnan said. “I must thank ONR and Dr. Bentley for supporting this important research topic. I also would like to thank Texas Advanced Computing Center for providing computational facilities.”

Adnan and Wu simulated a shock wave–induced cavitation collapse within the perineuronal net, which is a specialized extracellular matrix that stabilizes synapses in the brain.

The team focused on the damage in hyaluronan, which is the net’s main structural component. Their results show that the localized supersonic forces created by an asymmetrical bubble collapse may break the hyaluronan. This improves current knowledge and understanding of the connection between damage to the perineuronal net and neurodegenerative disorders.