News Neuroscience

Headbutts hurt the brain, even for a musk ox

A little damage may be OK, scientists suspect, since their daily life is not super complicated.

Two musk oxen stand in the snow, about to butt heads.

The brains of headbutting musk oxen have signs of damage, a new study shows.

Raffi Maghdessian/Aurora Open/Getty Images Plus

By Laura Sanders

- More than 2 years ago

Punishing headbutts damage the brains of musk oxen. That observation, made for the first time and reported May 17 in Acta Neuropathologica, suggests that a life full of bell-ringing clashes is not without consequences, even in animals built to bash.