Brain stimulation: Neuromodulation as a potential treatment for motor recovery following traumatic brain injury

•Brain stimulation shows great promise as a treatment to improve stroke recovery.•Brain stimulation drives structural and functional neural remodeling.•Interest in stimulation as treatment for TBI induced motor impairments is growing.

There is growing evidence that electrical and magnetic brain stimulation can improve motor function and motor learning following brain damage. Rodent and primate studies have strongly demonstrated that combining cortical stimulation (CS) with skilled motor rehabilitative training enhances functional motor recovery following stroke. Brain stimulation following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is less well studied, but early pre-clinical and human pilot studies suggest that it is a promising treatment for TBI-induced motor impairments as well. This review will first discuss the evidence supporting brain stimulation efficacy derived from the stroke research field as proof of principle and then will review the few studies exploring neuromodulation in experimental TBI studies.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI:Brain injury and recovery.