Abstract

Providing biospecimens under controlled conditions, allowing pre- and post-injury assessments, and facilitating hypothesis testing experiments from basic mechanistic studies to drug development, animal models are important proxies for studying TBI. In order to investigate various facets of the pathophysiology of TBI, numerous animal models with various levels of face validity and construct validity have been developed, validated, and extensively utilized. Although these model systems are an important tool for studying TBI effects, each model has drawbacks that must be taken into account when using it. For instance, current models replicate some brain changes associated with neurodegeneration, such as an increase in tau phosphorylation, but in general, neurofibrillary tangles do not form.