Brain Damage Proof Birds

Summary of "Why Don't Woodpeckers Get Brain Damage?" by Daniel Engber 

Popular Science writer, Daniel Engber, explains what American and Chinese scientists discovered about woodpeckers and their ability to be "concussion-proof." In 1976, a psychiatrist named Philip May asked a co-worker "Why woodpeckers don't have headaches?" May's first experiment was on a pair of pickled woodpeckers. By studying the anatomy of the woodpeckers' skulls, May found a sponge-like bone at the front of the skull. May and his colleagues determined that the bone acted acts as a shock absorber for when it strikes a tree. In addition, Woodpeckers have a bone that supports the tongue and head of the bird called a hyoid. The researchers also discovered that the woodpecker's brain is tightly packed into it's cranium, preventing it from moving around too much. In order to find out if these features were unique to the woodpecker, a Chinese research team compared the head of a woodpecker to the head of a bird the similar size. After conducting the experiment, the researchers determined that the skull of the woodpecker looked stronger, and the skull was tighter around the brain. Despite these advantages, woodpeckers, like all birds, are not immune to head trauma. No matter how hard your head is, slamming into a window is never going to feel good (Engber, 2014).

The information scientists gathered about woodpeckers and how they are less susceptible to head trauma can be very valuable to humans. For the past few years, concussions in football and other sports have been a hot topic. More and more children and adults are getting seriously hurt or even killed from concussions. With the information gathered, companies could incorporate the design of woodpecker skulls into the design of football helmets. For example, helmets could be created to fit more snugly, or the front of the helmet could have a spongy area like the hummingbird's skull. I'm not saying that a piece of plastic mimicking the hyoid of a woodpecker should be implanted inside of all football players, but this research could possibly be a big step in the advancement of preventive gear for concussions.
Engber, D. (2014, September). Ask anything: Why don't woodpeckers get brain damage?