Voluntary muscular activation is disturbed in both neurological disorders and orthopaedic injuries. Methods that enable bypassing this activation circle are of fundamental importance in order to set functional training stimuli. Besides electrical stimulation and robot supported gait the app'lication of vibration has become an alternative and complemental treatment method in rehabilitation. The most findings of physiological and motor control, effects of vibratory stimuli result from studies in sport science and basic neurophysiological research. Transferring the effects found in healthy subjects to the different areas of application in rehabilitation seems not possible in a linear way. This paper summarizes the different findings and discusses transfer possibilities and problems.