Most people, including doctors, believe that in order to suffer traumatic brain injury (TBI), some contact to the skull is required. In other words, some type of blow to the head must have occurred in order for one to suffer traumatic brain injury (TBI). This misunderstanding or misguided belief is due to the failure to recognize that subjecting the brain to sudden acceleration and sudden deceleration forces which causes the brain to suddenly shake or move inside of the skull can lead to damage of the axons.
The billions of axons in the brain act as communication highways between different neurons relaying information in form of electrical and chemical signals. When the brain is caused to suddenly move forward and backward (sudden acceleration and deceleration), axons can be damaged since the brain moves at different speeds due to the non-uniformity of both its' shape and weight. Unlike a baseball or golf ball, the brain's weight and shape are unevenly distributed. So when the brain moves, different parts of the brain moves faster than other parts of the brain due to the non-uniformity of both its shape and weight. When this happens, the axons, also known as the white matter, in the brain are stretched and can be damaged potentially leading to loss in electrical conductivity. This type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is known as Traumatic Axonal Injury (TAI).
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) involving Traumatic Axonal Injury (TAI) can lead to various cognitive, psychological and psychiatric impairments such as memory impairments, sleep disorders, depression, anxiety disorder, attention and focus impairment.