FIG. 5.

Brain stiffness measured with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) at different time points for control animals and those with each injury severity. Analysis of the graphs reveals a drop in stiffness values in the impacted region immediately following injury, while values in the rest of the brain remain unchanged. The statistical significance of this drop increases with injury severity and decreases with time as mechanical properties of the injured tissue progressively rise to match their primary values. There were no differences between the two regions of control animals. ****p<0.0001; ***p<0.001; **p<0.01. All values are reported as the mean±standard deviation of the groups.