Voluntary forced use of the impaired limb following stroke facilitates functional recovery in the rat.

•Intracortical and intrastriatal endothelin-1 microinjections produce unilateral deficits in forelimb function in the rat.•Appetitively-motivated forced use combined with repetitive task practice accelerates functional recovery.•Rehabilitation increases doublecortin positive cell numbers in SVZ and peri-infarct regions.•Rehabilitation alters the cellular origins of BDNF in peri-infarct zones.