# Neurophysiological Markers of Reward Processing Can Inform Preclinical Neurorehabilitation Approaches for Cognitive Impairments Following Brain Injury

## TL;DR

This paper explores how brain activity related to reward processing can guide neurostimulation treatments for cognitive issues after brain injury.

## Contribution

The paper introduces electrophysiological markers, like cortico-striatal beta oscillations, as potential targets for neurorehabilitation after TBI.

## Key findings

- Electrophysiology can detect cognitive deficits missed by structural measures.
- Cortico-striatal beta oscillations are disturbed after frontal TBI and may represent subjective value during reward processing.
- Targeting these oscillations with stimulation could improve decision-making post-TBI.

## Abstract

Brain stimulation therapies may be used to correct motor, social, emotional, and cognitive consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Neuromodulation applied with anatomical specificity can ameliorate desired symptoms while leaving functional circuits intact. Before applying precision medicine approaches, preclinical animal studies are needed to explore potential neurophysiological signatures that could be modulated with neurostimulation. This review discusses potential neural signatures of cognition, particularly reward processing, which is chronically impaired after brain injury. Electrophysiology, compared to other types of biomarkers, can detect deficits missed by structural measures, holds translational potential between humans and animals, and directly informs neuromodulatory treatments. Disturbances in oscillatory activity underscore structural, molecular, and behavioral impairments seen following TBI. For instance, cortico-striatal beta frequency activity (15–30 Hz) during reward processing represents subjective value and is chronically disturbed after frontal TBI in rodents. We use the example of evoked beta oscillations in the cortico-striatal network as a putative marker of reward processing that could be targeted with electrical stimulation to improve decision making after TBI. This review highlights the necessity of collecting electrophysiological data in preclinical models to understand the underlying mechanisms of cognitive behavioral deficits after TBI and to develop targeted stimulation treatments in humans.