Objective To investigate the effect of a motor relearning programme (MRP) on the recovery of neurological function after ischemic brain impairment cauced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).Methods Ninety adult,healthy,male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a group which received a motor relearning programme (54 rats),a control group (18 rats) and a sham operation group (18 rats).The group trained with the motor relearning programme was randomly subdivided into 3 subgroups of 18 according to when the programme began:3,7 or 14 days after occlusion.The middle cerebral artery was occluded with thread for 90 min.The rats in the sham operation group were not occluded.After ninety minutes,the thread was released to induce reperfusion injury.Bederson's method was used to assess the recovery of neural function after 7,14 and 21 days.The mRNA levels of candidate plasticity-related gene 15 (CPG-15) and nuclear factorκB (NF-κB) were determined by RT-PCR.Results Neurological function scores and the CPG15 and NF-κB levels had all improved significantly more in the 3 days after occlusion subgroup than in the 7 days and 14 days groups.The 3 indexes were similarly significantly better in the 7 days subgroup than in the 14 days group.The average neurological function score of the con-trol group was best at all time points.The average CPG15 level of the 3 days subgroup was significantly higher than that of the control group at all time points.The CPG15 level differences in the 7 days and 14 days subgroups with respect to the control group were not significant.Compared with the control group,the average NF-κB level in the 3 days subgroup was significantly lower.The differences in the other groups were not significant.Conclusions A motor relearning programme can improve neurological function after MCAO-induced ischemic cerebral impairment.It should be begun no more than 3 days after MCAO.