Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Finite element models of the human head are used widely to simulate TBI loading scenarios, to improve the understanding of the mechanical pathogenesis of head trauma. The reliability of such computational models depends strongly on the accuracy of the mechanical properties of the different components of the brain. Here, we address the shortage of high-quality data on the region-specific properties of human brain tissue at dynamic rates and under large deformation. We mechanically characterized 12 different regions of the human brain including cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem through n=595 force-relaxation experiments with a custom-built micro-indentation apparatus. We imposed up to 35% strain at 10/s strain rate, i.e. values representative for TBI. Pronounced differences in mechanical response were observed across the brain. This work both highlights and addresses the need to assign accurate, region-specific viscoelastic properties to different brain regions in finite element head models.

颅脑外伤（TBI）是世界范围内死亡率和发病率的重要原因。人体头部的有限元模型被广泛用于模拟TBI负荷情况，以增进对头部外伤的机械发病机理的了解。这种计算模型的可靠性在很大程度上取决于大脑不同组成部分的机械特性的准确性。在这里，我们解决了在动态速率和大变形下关于人类大脑组织的特定区域特性的高质量数据的不足。通过使用定制微型压痕仪进行的n = 595力松弛实验，我们对人脑的12个不​​同区域进行了机械表征，包括大脑，小脑和脑干。我们以10 / s的应变速率施加了35％的应变，即代表TBI的值。在整个大脑中观察到明显的机械反应差异。这项工作既强调又满足了在有限元头部模型中为不同的大脑区域分配精确的，特定于区域的粘弹性质的需求。