Methods of treating the effects of disruption of normal blood flow in the CNS in an individual subject in need thereof are provided according to aspects of the present invention which include administering a therapeutically effective dose of exogenous NeuroD1 to an area where normal blood flow has been disrupted. Compositions are provided including 1) a recombinant adeno-associated adenovirus expression vector comprising a glial cell specific promoter operably linked to a nucleic acid encoding a site-specific recombinase and 2) a recombinant adeno-associated adenovirus expression vector comprising a ubiquitous promoter operably linked to a nucleic acid encoding NeuroD1, wherein the nucleic acid encoding NeuroD1 is inverted and flanked by two sets of site-specific recombinase recognition sites such that action of the recombinase irreversibly inverts the nucleic acid encoding NeuroD1 such that NeuroD1 is expressed in a mammalian cell.
