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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffYour brain has the consistency of gelatin. It's cushioned from everyday jolts and bumps by the cerebrospinal fluid that it floats in, inside your skull. A violent blow to your head can cause your brain to slide forcefully against the inner wall of your skull. Even the sudden stop of a car crash can bounce your brain off the inside of your skull. This can result in bleeding in or around your brain and the tearing of nerve fibers.
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- Heegaard WG, et al. System injuries. In: Marx JA, et al., eds. Marx: Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2006:349.
- Concussion. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch087/ch087c.html. Accessed Jan. 15, 2009.
- Evans RW. Concussion and mild traumatic brain injury. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 15, 2009.
- Living with brain injury. Brain Injury Association of America. http://www.biausa.org/education.htm#concussion. Accessed Feb. 15, 2009.
- Evans RW, et al. Traumatic disorders. In: Goetz GD. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: W.B. Saunders; 2007:1185.
- Concussion. American Association of Neurological Surgeons. http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/what/patient_e/concussion.asp. Accessed Jan. 15, 2009.
- DePompolo RW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 3, 2009.
