The objective of the present paper is to review the current status of exercise as a tool to promote cognitive rehabilitation after
acquired brain injury (ABI) in animal model-based research. Searches were conducted on the PubMed, Scopus, and psycINFO
databases in February 2014. Search strings used were: exercise (and) animal model (or) rodent (or) rat (and) traumatic brain injury
(or) cerebral ischemia (or) brain irradiation. Studies were selected if they were (1) in English, (2) used adult animals subjected
to acquired brain injury, (3) used exercise as an intervention tool after inflicted injury, (4) used exercise paradigms demanding
movement of all extremities, (5) had exercise intervention effects that could be distinguished from other potential intervention
effects, and (6) contained at least one measure of cognitive and/or emotional function. Out of 2308 hits, 22 publications fulfilled the
criteria.The studies were examined relative to cognitive effects associated with three themes: exercise type (forced or voluntary),
timing of exercise (early or late), and dose-related factors (intensity, duration, etc.).The studies indicate that exercise in many cases
can promote cognitive recovery after brain injury. However, the optimal parameters to ensure cognitive rehabilitation efficacy still
elude us, due to considerable methodological variations between studies.