study: headbanging can cause traumatic brain injury

from raw replay: A study from Australian researchers says that rock fans that headbang are at risk of injuring their brains. The Guardian reported: “We identified a definite risk of mild traumatic brain injury from headbanging,” Dr Andrew McIntosh, of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), told the Australian newspaper. “We would suggest a proper public health warning, as for smoking.” The results of his research were published in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal. Researchers at UNSW’s school of risk and safety sciences found that risk of neck and head injury was directly related to song tempo. The average heavy metal song, with a tempo of 146 bpm, is likely to cause mild injury if the head’s range of motion is greater than 75 degrees. Songs like Motley Crue’s Kickstart My Heart – at 180 bpm – are among the most dangerous, leading to anything from mild headaches to mosh-induced strokes. McIntosh and co-author Declan Patton advised that “Adult-oriented rock” is much more safe, as it involves a slower rate of head-bopping. We are not quite sure what “adult-oriented rock” means, but we suspect the music is less cool than AC/DC. This video is from CNN.com, broadcast Dec. 22, 2008.