Task-oriented therapy is important. It makes intuitive sense that the best way to relearn a given task is to train specifically for that task. In animals, functional reorganization is greater for tasks that are meaningful to the animal. Repetition alone, without usefulness or meaning in terms of function, is not enough to produce increased motor cortical representations. In humans, less intense but task-specific training regimens with the more affected limb can produce cortical reorganization and associated, meaningful functional improvements.

Patients admitted to stroke rehabilitation within 30 days of first-ever, unilateral stroke experienced greater functional gains and shorter lengths of stay than those whose admission to rehabilitation was delayed beyond 30 days.

Only 28% of the interventional studies were RCTs. Over half of the 275 interventional studies were single group interventions, pointing to the need for studies of improved methodological quality into ABI rehabilitation.