SMORGASBORG #2: Exoskeletons part A

BIOMECHATRONICS

Hybrid Assistive Limb Suit

In the field of Biomechatronics(1) the integration of man and machine can be achieved through internal or external body/machine interfaces. Exploration of internal interfaces between the nervous, muscular, and other body systems are represented in movies like Terminator Salvation and Star Trek: First Contact, where living flesh encases machinery(2). We'll look at some aspects of internal interfaces in future posts.

You'll recall from SMORGASBORG #1 that my gauge for a cyborg is "some kind of sensory and/or motor interface between the man (or biological tissues) and his machine parts. This involves the exchange of data and of energy. This relationship between two independent systems (man and machine in the case of the movies we will look at) is a dynamic one, where each influence the other."(3)

Claudia Mitchell with a new prosthetic arm.

This one's real, folks!

This criterion for cyborgism means that a person wearing a truly biomechatronic exoskeleton, whether invasive or not, could fit the model of a cyborg. One can also be provided sensory and motor interfaces that are non-invasive. A person can be encased (all the way or partially) in an exoskeletal structure that provides feedback to the wearer. Cybernetic devices could be directed through physical manipulation, voice commands, or in some cases, thought commands. Electrodes and other types of sensors can read nervous impulses and brain waves via contact with the skin. Sensory information can be provided to the user of the device through skin contact, aurally, and visually.

Lobster attacked by a baby

(Thank you, Bill Rahner, for the photo!)

GETTING HUNGRY...

I have read (and heard) the exoskeletal construction of a cyborg described as a "lobster." It's an appropriate nickname if you think about it. This type of cyborg has a hard outer shell and a tender, juicy middle. Makes you want to throw Iron Man, live, into a big pot of boiling water, cook him up, then crack him out of his shell and eat him with melted butter. The more I think about dipping Robert Downey Jr. into melted butter, the more I like the "lobster" thing.

Mr. Downey as Tony Stark. Too much eye liner.

Iron Man, Matrix Revolutions, and Aliens fulfill the model of the exoskeleton with greater and lesser degrees of technological finesse. Stark is encased entirely in his "power suit" (power suit?!?!), has a visual, and probably a tactile, interface, and talks to Jarvis (a computer of artificial intelligence) through his suit, to give commands and request information. In Matrix, the Armored Personnel Unit is an exoskeletal weapon. There is direct communication with the external environment. It's a big walking gun with a person in it. Captain Mifune goes down in one while battling the machines (Sentinels? I forget what they're called). It's a good fight scene.

Nathanael Lees as Captain Mifune

From Cyberpunk Review

In Aliens, Ripley(4) makes herself the crudest cyborg of all. Much of her body is exposed. Her exosuit cargo loader is, well, a cargo loader, it has buttons and levers. Ripley uses it as a weapon. It's not clear in the film if she is provided with any feedback from the suit, or if information travels only from her to it. She does walk in the suit, which I think would require some type of feedback mechanism in order to maintain balance, but I'm not a biomechanic.

If we take this lobster-as-cyborg imagery too far, anyone in a car might be encased in an exoskeleton, and therefore a cyborg. I'm not willing to go there. Another feature that may disqualify these characters from being true cyborgs is that they can remove themselves from their casings at any time. On the other hand, I haven't read anything that decrees Once a Cyborg, Always a Cyborg.

Next time we look at exoskeletons, prosthetics, and some real life applications for a power suit.

1. Biomechatronics is an interdisciplinary field that combines robotics, neuroscience, "interface and sensory technology, and dynamic systems and control theory," whatever they are. The objective of biomechatronics is to create implements that interact with the body in order to restore it to mechanical function, or enhance its function. Biomechatronics - Assisting the Impaired Motor System, by P.H. Vletnik, et. al. is a fascinating read on this topic. The article is from the Archives of Physiology and Biochemistry 2001, Vol. 109, No 1, pp. 1-9. If you don't have access to the right database (hmmm, grad school has its advantages), you can purchase it through Pub Med, if you're inclined.

2. Of course, each movie has its own set of rules. In Star Trek it is revealed the Borg cannot survive without their fleshy parts, no matter how seemingly small a percentage of the Borg body is flesh. This is a major plot point regarding how the crew of the Enterprise overcome a Borg invasion. In contrast are the cybernetic organisms in the Terminator series, who lose their flesh and keep on going.

3. Cripes! Now I'm quoting myself!

4. Another actor to consider dipping in butter.

SMORGASBORG #1: What is a cyborg?

Yes, We is the new Queen of the Borg. As a Borg, We don't need glasses, but as the Queen, We thought it might help people take Us seriously.

BORGFUDDLING

Working on the Terminator Salvation posts generated some interesting conversation in my household over the following days. I've become curious about that meat/metal interface, what it takes to make a cyborg, how cyborgs are portrayed in the movies, and what a cyborg is and is not.

What is a cyborg? It depends who you ask. Some sources say a cyborg is anyone who uses a tool to enhance sensory input, or improve physical mechanics of the body. By that definition, eyeglasses, hearing aids, canes, crutches, and prosthetics have been making cyborgs of us for centuries(1). Other sources are more stringent in their definitions, and yet others seem to confuse terms like robot, android, and cyborg.

Cyborg, or Kindle?

Cyborg, or Kindle?

Language can get confusing. A Kindle covered in a leather casing is not a cyborg even though it resembles, on a crude level, the Terminator. Why is the Kindle not a cyborg? Because it is not encased in living tissue (just dead tissue), according to the definition used in The Terminator movies. My husband, the cartoonist, is crushed of course, because he was hoping we could buy a cyborg from Amazon.com.

GETTING TERMS STRAIGHT

Patrick Parrinder wrote a great historical survey of cyborgian literature and presents his own set of definitions, which I've paraphrased and embellished here(2).

Robot is the English version of the Czech robota, basically meaning "forced labor". This label can be applied to machines, which take the place of human workers. Examples of robots from film include V-Ger (Star Trek the Motion Picture), the Gunslinger (Westworld), and don't forget the autobots and decepticons (Transformers)!

The Gunslinger, looking like Yule Brenner

Android, meaning "manlike," was first used in 1727. The term is currently used to mean artificial human beings of organic substance. Replicants (Blade Runner) belong to this category.

Sean Young as Rachel-the-Replicant

Cyborg is a contraction of "cybernetic organism," which is how the Terminator labels itself. Cyborgs are constructed through surgical extension. They are not born, they are made. Some sources(3) say that a basic principle of cybernetics requires some kind of sensory and/or motor interface between the man (or biological tissues) and his machine parts. This involves the exchange of data and of energy. This relationship between two independent systems (man and machine in the case of the movies we will look at) is a dynamic one, where each influences the other.

The requirement of interface between the human and the artificial body part gives us a good base from which to look at cyborgs in the movies, so let's include this in our definition of cyborgs.

WHICH CYBORG MOVIES FIT THESE CRITERIA?

1. The Terminator series: The Terminator itself (Arnold Schwarzenegger), and Marcus (Sam Worthington) from Terminator Salvation.

Marcus

2. Star Trek: First Contact: The Borg

The Borg Queen, before my reign.

3. Cyborg: Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon)

Little Pearl

4. The RoboCop series: RoboCop (Peter Weller). Oops! Picture gaff! We'll see him later...

5. I, Robot: Del Spooner (Will Smith) could qualify as a cyborg because he has a prosthetic arm that obviously has sensory and motor feedback systems that interact with his private parts (nervous system, musculature, etc.).

Spooner and his miracle arm

6. Iron Man: Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) when he dons his "power suit." Power suit?!?

Iron Man

7. The Matrix Revolutions: Anyone wearing an Armored Personnel Unit.

APU

8. Aliens: Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) when she is wearing the exosuit cargo loader to battle the Alien Queen. Weak, I know, but I'll make my point next time.

Ripley suited up

I know what your thinking... You're wondering how I, Robot, Iron Man, Aliens, and Matrix Revolutions qualify as cyborg movies. Next time, we look at exoskeletons and cyborgs.

1. Someone should make a movie about Benjamin Franklin, the cyborg: struck by lightning while wearing glasses, the electrical charge fuses them to his head (and brain) and gives him super-human vision...

2. Robots, Clones and Clockwork Men: The Post-Human Perplex in Early Twentieth-Century Literature and Science. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, Vol. 34 No. 1, March, 2009 pp. 56-67. You can purchase this article online if you're into the history of science fiction literature (or even if you're not).

3. Vanishing senses -- restoration of sensory functions by electronic implants. Rosahl, Steffen K. Poiesis & Praxis; may 2004, Vol. 2 Issue 4, pp 285-295. An excellent overview of what it means to enable the body with a sensory and/or motor interface. You can purchase this article through this link, or just check out the abstract.

PALATE CLEANSER 1: Zorro and Ankle Fracture

BELIEVABILITY IS WHAT COUNTS

I never thought I'd be able to write a post that mentions Terminator Salvation and Zorro, The Gay Blade in the same sentence, but here we are. What could these two movies possibly have in common? Ankle fracture, sort of.

As was discussed in a previous post, in Terminator Salvation, giant robots are manually dumping humans into "transport vehicles" (who talks like that?). Once released from the grip of the robot, those people are falling from a height significant enough(1) to cause one of two types of fracture-dislocation of the foot; either Pott's fracture, Dupuytren's fracture, or any variation thereof.

Here's an x-ray of Dupuytren's fracture a.k.a Paratrooper's fracture. You can see the way the foot bones have been driven up, between the two bones of the lower leg. As a point of interest, any dislocation is also going to involve sprain because ligaments will be torn.

Terminator Salvation's relationship to ankle fracture is that of missed opportunity. A little hobbling and deformity on the part of a minor character would have given this film about machines and cybernetic organisms taking over the world a lot more credibility. Too bad. It's really the little things in explosive, apocalyptic, science fiction movies that can make or break them.

How does this relate to Zorro, the Gay Blade? Here's the quick plot synopsis from Anonymous at the IMDb site: "In 1840's Mexico, wealthy landowner Don Diego Vega adopts the persona of his late father's secret identity as Zorro, the masked folk hero. But when Vega is incapacitated by an injury, he asks Ramon, his very gay, long lost twin brother (now calling himself 'Bunny'), to replace him as the caped hero, who makes some drastic changes his Zorro persona." That Anonymous sure can write. For a more complete story, see Wikipedia.

The key phrase here is "incapacitated by an injury." Diego(George Hamilton), disguised as Zorro, attends a costume ball, flirts with the ladies, angers the bad guy, gets in a fight and (through a little slapstick comedy) stumbles backward off of a balcony, to land on his feet, at the edge of a fountain, injuring his ankle. He hops to his horse and rides home.

Zorro, before the fall.

At home, Diego accurately cares for his acute injury with R.I.C.E. therapy(2). We see a shot of his foot. It is puffy and bruised. Now I'm no doctor (I watch one on TV), but for that amount of swelling and ecchymosis, I'm willing to bet Diego has at least a 2nd degree ankle sprain(3), or possible 3rd degree sprain, perhaps with fracture of the fibula or medial malleolus (lateral and medial ankle bones).

I couldn't find an image from the film of Diego's injured foot, but it looked quite like this.

In one of his finest acting moments, George Hamilton, who has been hobbling about and wincing in a most convincing way, is confronted Captain Esteban (Ron Leibman) who suspects his identity. Esteban tells Diego that Zorro escaped, but his ankle is "sprained, possibly fractured." Diego, to prove that he is not Zorro, dances and hops about on his injured foot, trying to disguise his acute pain from Diego. The ruse works and Diego leaves. It's actually funny if you think about the additional damage he would be doing to an injury like that. He would probably pass out from the pain.

I don't know if it was Hal Dresner, Johnston McCulley, or one of the other writers who decided to use this device, but it works well. Orthopedists watching the film probably pee their pants with laughter.

ONWARD

I am putting together cyborg research. If anyone would like to suggest any films featuring cyborgs (not androids, clones, or robots) beyond the usual suspects of the Terminator series, Robocop (a misnamed film if ever there was one), Star Trek: First Contact, Cyborg, Universal Soldier, or I, Robot(4), please do.

1. In the movie it seems that they are being dropped into these cages from a height of 12-15 feet onto a solid floor.

2. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

3. A sprain is the over-stretching, or tearing of a ligament. In a 2nd degree sprain, as much as 99% of a ligaments fibers can be torn. For more on sprains and R.I.C.E. therapy visit the Merck Manual Online.

4. Will Smith's character qualifies as a cyborg because of his prosthetic arm and its capabilities.

TERMINATOR SALVATION - Spoiler Alert #4

MARCUS' HEART

The dialogue of the film reminds us on occasion of Marcus' heart. Blair (Moon Bloodgood, Rowr!) mentions it beating strongly when she seductively snuggles up to him and lays her head on Marcus' chest. Connor tells Marcus he sees his "heart beating a mile a minute." However we never see it directly, only through Terminator-vision at the end of a fight, so we don't know it's a human heart. Marcus' metallic skeleton at his chest is exposed but his heart is never visible to us.

Marcus' naughty parts

Here's a picture of Marcus' skeleton that I got off of Rotten Tomatoes. You can see that Marcus either has an organic heart encased in that metal skeleton, or perhaps he doesn't have a heart at all. Maybe the machines gave him some kind of mechanical pump that only sounds like a heart in case he has to snuggle with a human female.

Everyone mentions his heart. We all get it. Marcus has a strong heart. It's robust, can pump blood through an organism made of a combination of organic and manufactured materials, and is the symbol of his emotions, values, and humanity. Marcus' heart is the key to the final action, his redemption, and John Connor's life (so that there can be another movie -- spoiler alert #4.5!). The way the film works this material is both irritating and entertaining.

MARCUS TO THE RESCUE

In the factory during the final big action scene, Connor defribillates Marcus with industrial cables not because he is a being of value, but because Connor can use him as a weapon against a Terminator. Connor needs a weapon, and Marcus is it. But before the revived Marcus can stop it, the Terminator shoves a pipe through Connor's chest, where his heart would be if he had one(1). That is a great moment! It's shot really well, the welling blood suits their palette, and the action is well timed. Marcus then saves Connor and helps get him back to the base.

Getting to the 'copter

YOU KNOW THORAX

Back at base, Connor is dying because "his heart is too weak." Really? That's it? How about a collapsed lung, massive loss of blood, perhaps a sucking chest wound, fractured ribs splintering into everything, and insane amounts of bleeding around the mediastinum?

Below are some pictures of the chest. The mediastinum is essentially the area between the lungs, housing the heart in the "pericardial cavity". The lungs, heart, and other tubes are partitioned off from one another by sheets of connective tissue, sometimes referred to as membranes.

Mediastinum, anterior view

Here we see the heart and its vessels nestled in the mediastinum, between the lungs.

Mediastinum, cross cut

This is similar to an aerial view. The sternum is at the top of the picture, the vertebral column at the bottom, center. We see the lungs (right and left) and many of their blood vessels. We also see the top of the heart and the vessels from the lungs leading into the heart (in blue... yes, blue); these are essentially located within the borders of the mediastinum.

If bleeding happens within a partitioned area, the membranous walls keep blood from going everywhere. If one lung collapses due to blood in the chest (hemothorax[2]), the other lung can function because the blood won't leak into its space unless these partitions are compromised.

Hemothorax

After Marcus rescues him, Connor seems to be able to breathe and is not hacking up blood loogies, so the pipe and splintered ribs have obviously not pierced his lungs or their cavity (the plural cavity for you trivia buffs). His breathing would be pretty labored if he had a hemothorax or pneumothorax(3) situation. So what the heck happened? What is the scenario to fit the shot of the pipe emerging from Connor's chest, with all that blood welling up?

The only thing we can assume is there is bleeding (and swelling) around Connor's heart, causing compression to its chambers. This is called cardiac tamponade(4). The pressure from the blood build-up would reduce the amount of blood that could get into the heart, reducing cardiac output. To compensate, the heart would have to beat faster to try and get enough blood around the body. This condition would indeed weaken and exhaust the heart. This is the only condition I could possibly come up with to support the action and the script. I'd be curious to know what the writers were thinking...

Here's an illustration of cardiac tamponade from a World War II surgical manual. It's comforting to know that traumatic injuries suffered in the 20th century will still be around well into the 21st century...

Cardiac Tamponade

I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO...OR WAS IT L.A?

So, Marcus tells them to take his heart and transplant it into Connor's body. It is Marcus' chance to redeem his criminal life and sacrifice himself for a higher cause. What does Marcus get from Connor for his heart? A curt nod. No "thank you" or, "I guess you're human after all" or anything. Obviously Connor will never need a penis transplant. He's a big enough one as it is.

Then they perform transplant surgery out of doors under a netted camouflage tent. Grit and dust aren't sterile. There is a lot of bacteria in dirt, you know. As an example, anthrax bacteria can live in dirt for years and years. Wind can blow all sorts of bacteria into a wound. They should also do some blood and tissue typing before wasting Marcus' heart, if he even has one. If Connor doesn't die of infection, he may die of tissue rejection(5), which means... no sequel!

Anthrax Bacteria (the rod-shaped things)

CYBORGS AT LARGE

Thinking about Marcus (only professionally, of course) as the first human-based cyborg to show up in a Terminator film, I started thinking about cyborg films, generally. Expect the next entries to be an exploration of the meat/metal interface.

1. Connor's character is so self-centered! Let's face it, if I grew up with a mother who taught me to use firearms and told me I was destined to be the savior of the world, I'd be pretty stuck up, too.

2. Hemo = blood, thorax = chest. Put it all together, and there you have it.

3. Pneumo = air. I sense a pattern. Pneumothorax might happen if the chest wall and/or lung was punctured. As Connor struggled to breathe, air could get into the space around the lung, collapsing it.

4. Tamponade can refer to both the accumulation of blood around the heart or "the act of using a tampon." Thank you, Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary.

5. For more on transplantation feel free to peruse the Face/Off! entries from March of 2009.

TERMINATOR SALVATION - Spoiler Alert #3

The terminator that had Arnold Schwarzenegger's features before they were burned away. Note the sternal and costal pectoralis major fibers still clinging to the left chest and shoulder.

CANT' TAKE THE CREDIT FOR THIS ONE

My husband, the cartoonist, suggested that perhaps Governor Schwarzenegger was one of the unfortunates captured and experimented on by Skynet, in the early years. Despite his history of steroid use, the former Mr. Universe is a healthy specimen for his age. Obviously, humans trust their politicians more than they ought. The machines probably considered him an obvious choice when it came to making a human prototype.

TERMINATED BY THE TERMINATOR

Marcus has a big fight with the metallic core of a terminator that had the visage and physique of the governor of California. The "living tissue" doesn't last long on this particular Terminator. It is flayed off of him in an explosion. Marcus and the faceless Terminator are duking it out in the factory where the girl finds the power cells, by the by.

The Terminator punches Marcus in the chest with enough power to cause his human heart (encased in a metallic superstructure) to go into ventricular fibrillation. (I'm assuming his heart is fibrillating based on what happens next.) Marcus collapses, of course. Ventricular fibrillation is the cause of many massive deadly heart attacks in this country.

VF

Ventricular fibrillation essentially means that the muscle of the heart starts to quiver instead of contracting rhythmically. I believe I've read somewhere that severe trauma to cardiac muscle (such as a crushing blow to the chest) could cause VF. The cardiac muscle cells are still contracting, but the contractions are uncoordinated so blood can't be pushed out of the heart.

Connor is left to fight the Terminator alone. He tries, but the terminator is a Terminator, so it doesn't go well. In desperation, Connor goes to the still form of Marcus and tries to revive him. As is appropriate with ventricular fibrillation, Connor gives Marcus a "precordial thump ... (delivered with a clenched fist raised 10 to 30 cm [about 8 to 12 in.] above the sternum and brought down firmly)(1)."

Image of precordial thump technique from the great blog, Medgadget.com.

The precordial thump doesn't seem to work. No surprise since Marcus' heart is encased in super-hard metal, and Connor is a puny human, not the god he thinks he is. (More on the possible types of metal in a future post.) What is Connor to do? In true MacGyver fashion, he uses the materials at hand.

Connor pulls two electrical cables from the wall of the factory and uses them as a cyborg defibrillator. Ventricular fibrillation is treated by direct current defibrillation(2). We see this in moves all the time. For example, in Casino Royal, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) defibrillates James Bond (Daniel Craig) after he's been poisoned by digitalis.

Connor gives Marcus a huge jolt of electricity from the cables. I admire this gimmick because it is exactly the kind of thing I might suggest for a movie of this type. Which is not to say that it would work, or that I understand anything about electricity. I'm not sure if Marcus' heart would have remained a lump of raw meat, or if Connor would be smelling barbecue.

If he was a normal person, Marcus' heart would have to be revived within 4-6 minutes in order to prevent brain damage from lack of blood and oxygen to his brain. We assume Connor makes the deadline, Marcus revives and saves the day. However, Marcus can't prevent the terminator from driving a big piece of metal through Connor's chest. The spike appears to penetrate from back to front, and emerges just next to the sternum around ribs 5 or 6.

Even with this wound, Connor can breathe and remain conscious. Here he is escaping to the helicopter with Marcus. He looks pretty good, doesn't he? Very alert, no palor, doesn't seem to be burbling blood...

Next time, ruminations about Marcus' heart.

1. Once again, my bedside Merck Manual, 16th Edition, p 524, comes in handy. Okay, it's not really bedside.

2. Sources vary on the amount of electricity needed to re-establish heart rhythm. According to Merck Online, a fibrillating patient is given a jolt of 120-300 joules. A really interesting article on the history of defibrillators describes an automatic emergency defibrillator as packing a 100 kilowatt punch in its charge, with a quick reverse current at the end. I went to Unitconversion.org to see if I could put joules and kilowatts in context for myself. I got confused trying to figure out volts, joules, watts, etc. I never watch an electrician on TV. I gave up trying to understand this stuff after about 15 minutes. Any help, anyone?

TERMINATOR SALVATION - Spoiler Alert #2

TWO CORTICES? Or is it cortexes...?

Apparently the cyborg, Marcus (the dreamiest cyborg yet!), has been given a "hybrid nervous system" as well as a metallic skeleton. According to dialogue, Marcus has a human cortex and a machine cortex in his brain. The cortex of the cerebrum is the outer, gray part. The cortex interprets and processes the sensory information coming into the brain, controls voluntary movements and functions in intellectual and emotional processing, including memory.

The cortex is called the cortex because it's the outermost part. Your adrenal glands have cortices, too. Guess where they are? Yup, they are the outer shell of the gland. So the conversation distracted me for a moment because I was trying to imagine how a brain has two outer casings. I wondered if they meant the extra "cortex" was labeled that way as a functional structure instead of an extra cap around Marcus' brain. Once I decided that was the case, I could keep moving with the film(1). The question remains as to whether the "control chip" placed at the back of Marcus' head is this second cortex.

Lobes of the Cerebrum

It does make sense that Marcus would have enhanced processing and voluntary motor control. Later, after I saw half his face taken off, I realized that he must have a metal skull. This would certainly help protect his brain from injury although injury from brain sloshing(2) would still be an issue. Perhaps the machines had invested Marcus' brain with so many fine, mesh-like wires that it would hold it in place during agitation. Let's face it: skipping across water like a stone, as Marcus does in the movie, would shake a non-augmented person's brain into a liquid bloody pulp. I get distracted by trivia like this. I think it's a sign I need to get out more...

An illustration of a contrecoup injury scenario. No big surprise, I found it on a site for a attorney's office.

FLAME RESISTANT HAIR

Has anyone noticed how characters in movies can survive the flaming backlash from an explosion with all their hair? It's maddening. Most people can't even get their locks within 6 inches of a candle flame. And yet 98%(3) of all movie characters retain their hair in the presence of fireballs.

Marcus (Sam Worthington) and Blair (Moon Bloodgood) have fire proof hair.

MACHINES DON'T WORRY ABOUT SAFETY STANDARDS

The girl, Star (Jadagrace), discovers a tray containing a number of nuclear fuel cells for the T800 series. I don't imagine that the machines have the same intolerance for radioactivity in the workplace as do people. Shouldn't someone pull that kid's pretty face away from a nuclear fuel cell before her skin bubbles away, or she's set up for cancer at an early age? Instead everyone goes over to stick their own faces next to the radiation, too. If John Connor is about to be a father, he better start thinking like one.

Star And The Gang

Next time, the big defibrillation scene!

1. I really had to resolve this issue! This is sooo important to my enjoyment of the film.

2. One of the (understandable) major oversights movies make is that a person can sustain a fatal brain injury even if their skull is intact. Acceleration/deceleration injuries can happen from violent shaking, striking the head, or if the head strikes something. The brain's axons and its blood vessels can get torn, leading to direct destruction, and damage from bleeding and swelling. A contrecoup injury means that the brain is damaged at the point of impact as well as the area opposite the point of impact. This happens because the brain is very liquidy and will "slosh" in the skull if forces permit.

3. These statistics cannot be verified because I made them up.