Focal and
diffuse brain injury are ways to classify
brain injury: focal injury occurs in a specific location, while diffuse injury occurs over a more widespread area. It is common for both focal and diffuse damage to occur as the result of the same event; many traumatic brain injuries have aspects of both focal and diffuse injury. Focal injuries are commonly associated with an injury in which the head strikes or is struck by an object; diffuse injuries are more often found in
acceleration/deceleration injuries, in which the head does not necessarily contact anything, but brain tissue is damaged because tissue types with varying densities accelerate at different rates. In addition to
physical trauma, other types of
brain injury, such as
stroke, can also produce focal and diffuse injuries. There may be
primary and secondary brain injury processes.