The control of movement following traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in a variety of impairments in cognition, mood, sensation, and movement, depending upon the location and severity of injury. Although not as extensively studied as cognitive impairments, motor impairments are common, especially in moderately to severely injured patients. The recovery of these deficits is not usually complete; however, extensive effort is put into the rehabilitation of motor skills to enhance independence and quality of life. Understanding the motor recovery process and how it can be influenced by rehabilitation has been extensively studied in animal models of stroke and focal lesions, albeit to a lesser extent following animal models of TBI. Injury-induced neural plasticity is intricately involved in motor recovery and influenced by behavioral compensation and rehabilitation following stroke and focal lesions. New studies in animal models of TBI indicate that neural plasticity and the processes of motor recovery and rehabilitation following brain injury may not mirror those processes shown to occur following stroke. Further examination of motor recovery, rehabilitation, and plasticity in animal models of TBI as well as in individuals with TBI will be necessary to fully understand the control of movement following brain injury.