Abstract
This paper discusses the role of relatively stiffer blood vessels on the more compliant brain tissues during rapid loading. Two finite element models of the human head were developed, one with the major branches of the cerebral arteries and one without. The role of blood vessels during rapid loading has not been properly investigated before and the results of this investigation suggest that the fine anatomical structures of the brain should not be ignored in traumatic brain injury modeling. The presence of major cerebral vessels has a profound effect on the maximum principle strain and the vessels play a major role in increasing the threshold of neural injury.