title: The role of timing and intensity of rehabilitation therapies.
abstract: In both animal and clinical studies, motor rehabilitation and training increase cortical representation and improve recovery, whereas lack of training decreases cortical representation for particular motor functions. In animals, delays in providing rehabilitation reduce the impact of therapy with a worsening in motor outcomes and a corresponding reduction in cortical reorganization. In clinical studies, there is an association between earlier admission to rehabilitation and better outcomes that correlates with animal work both in terms of functional gains from chronic stroke deficits and cortical reorganization. There is a likely relationship between therapy intensity and improvements in functional outcomes. Clinically, greater intensity of stroke rehabilitation has been associated with improved outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, St. Joseph's Health Care and the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Teasell
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bitensky
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Salter
authors.forename: Nestor A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Bayona
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011379:Prognosis; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome