The response properties of in vivo brain tissue and intracranial pressure

Brain tissue, like most soft biological tissues, exhibits nonlinear viscoelastic behavior. In addition to a short-time elastic-like response, it exhibits the viscoelastic properties of creep and stress (or pressure) relaxation. In addition, unlike passive engineering materials, brain tissue in the closed intracranial system appears sensitive to varying intracranial environmental conditions. This work has been involved with identifying the elastic and viscoelastic parameters associated with in vivo brain tissue, developing methods to measure these parameters, and correlating changes in these parameters with controlled changes in the intracranial system.