Contemporary experimental models of traumatic brain injury.

Abstract

This review article aims to bring investigators' attention to experimental models of traumatic brain injury, widely employed in research in western countries and almost unknown in Eastern Europe. We describe the most successful animal models that cause neurotrauma by applying mechanical energy to the head, skull or dura. It attempts to provide a short compendium of the main characteristics of each of these experimental models of TBI in respect to main human neurotrauma features, histological findings and behavioral impairment in neurologic motor and cognitive function.