Abstract
CNS trauma is a prominent cause of mortality and morbidity, and although much effort has focused on developing treatments for CNS trauma-related pathologies, little progress has been made. Pre-clinical models of TBI and SCI suffer from significant drawbacks, which result in substantial failures during clinical translation of promising pre-clinical therapies. Here, we review recent advances made in the development of in vitro models of CNS trauma, the promises and drawbacks of current in vitro CNS injury models, and the attributes necessary for future models to accurately mimic the trauma microenvironment and facilitate CNS trauma drug discovery. The goal is to provide insight for the development of future CNS injury models and to aid researchers in selecting effective models for pre-clinical research of trauma therapeutics.