Source: Earth
A new study suggests that goats that frequently headbutt may develop early signs of brain injury, challenging the long-held belief that their skulls fully protect them from repeated impacts. Researchers at the University of Alabama monitored three young male goats for six months, recording an average of 227 headbutts per day while collecting blood, saliva, and cerebrospinal fluid samples and performing MRI scans. Although the goats showed no memory decline or obvious brain damage on imaging, biological markers associated with brain injury gradually increased.
After the study, researchers found abnormal tau protein tangles and activated brain repair cells, changes similar to those seen in humans with Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic brain injury. Because goats have brain structures more comparable to humans than rodents, researchers believe they could become a valuable model for studying the cumulative effects of repeated, low-level head impacts. However, experts caution that the findings are preliminary, and the research has not yet undergone peer review.
Read the full story HERE: https://www.earth.com/news/headbutting-goats-may-reveal-how-brain-injuries-begin/