Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive candidate for regenerative medicine in the central nervous system (CNS). MSCs are easy to isolate from a patient’s bone marrow and to expand in vitro for autologous transplantation. Moreover, they have high proliferative potential and are multipotent. Recent studies demonstrated that the transplantation of MSCs exerts therapeutic effects on animal models of CNS disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, cerebral ischemia and spinal cord injury. The transplanted MSCs contributed to functional recovery by neuronal differentiation, the induction of neurogenesis and angiogenesis, and neuro-protection in these animal models. In this review, the therapeutic potential of MSC transplantation for Parkinson’s disease and cerebral ischemia is described with recent clinical studies.