Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a severe craniocerebral injury and a main cause of death and disability in young adults. Patients with severe TBI exhibit severe neurological deficits and behavioral disorders, but there is no effective treatment strategy. Neural stem cells (NSCs) are multipotent cells in the central nervous system, which secrete neurotrophic factors, differentiate into central and peripheral nervous system cell types, and play an important role in the treatment of TBI. Recent studies in animal models have demonstrated that the induction of endogenous NSCs and transplantation of regenerative neurons from exogenous NSCs can improve the symptoms in TBI animal models. Among the various TBI models, the cortical impact injury model has the most promising application in research of TBI treatments because of its accuracy and easy manipulation. Thus, in this review, we focus on cortical impact injury models to summarize their progress in the induction of endogenous NSCs to regenerate neurons and transplantation of exogenous NSCs to provide a new therapeutic strategy for TBI.