Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary neuroscience, bridging neurotrauma research with translational medicine and clinical care. It is characterized by a cascade of complex biological and physiological events that extend well beyond the initial mechanical insult, leading to secondary injuries involving neuroinflammation, glial activation, microvascular dysfunction, and behavioral disturbances. Although early discovery of biomarkers such as Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) and Ubiquitin C-terminal Hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) has improved diagnosis, their predictive accuracy for long-term outcomes remains considerably limited. Recent advances in multi-omic profiling, extracellular vesicle analysis, and neurovascular coupling have shed light on new mechanisms linking acute injury to chronic neurodegeneration. However, key questions persist regarding how molecular signatures, stress-related responses, and neurological adaptations interact to shape recovery, particularly in the context of overlapping pathologies with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). The field urgently requires integrative frameworks to translate these mechanistic insights into clinical biomarkers that support personalized rehabilitation and therapeutic decision-making.
This Research Topic aims to advance the identification, validation, and translation of molecular, vascular, and behavioral biomarkers that help decipher prognosis and recovery trajectories following TBI. By integrating molecular and histological findings with psychosocial and functional outcomes, the initiative seeks to uncover the mechanistic interplay between hypoxic brain injury, neurovascular responses, and neuroplastic adaptation. The goal is to clarify how emotional and stress biomarkers influence long-term results and to explore how TBI may share pathophysiological pathways with ADRD and other neurodegenerative disorders. Ultimately, this Research Topic aspires to develop multidimensional predictive models that combine biological, imaging, and psychological data to guide precision diagnostics and tailored rehabilitation strategies for individuals recovering from TBI.
To gather further insights into the multi-scale biological and clinical dimensions of TBI prognosis, we welcome contributions spanning preclinical, translational, and clinical research domains. We invite articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Molecular and histological alterations in the injured brain and their association with behavioral outcomes • Mechanistic relationships between hypoxic brain injury and vascular responses during recovery • Emotional, psychological, and stress biomarkers as predictors of recovery trajectories • Intersections between TBI and ADRD biomarkers in chronic neurodegeneration • Integration of multimodal biomarker data with neuroimaging, electrophysiological, and cognitive assessments • Microglial activation and neuroinflammatory markers influencing psychosocial and cognitive outcomes • Biofluid-based biomarkers for monitoring neurological recovery (blood, CSF, saliva) • Computational and machine learning tools for predictive modeling of long-term outcomes • Translational frameworks for clinical implementation of biomarker-driven rehabilitation approaches • TBI epidemiology and biomarker applications in low- and middle-income countries, especially contexts defined by resource constraints or high neurotrauma burden
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Clinical Trial
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Opinion
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
