A recently published research paper looks at the role classical music can play in stroke recovery therapy. The French and Swiss researchers found that listening to classical music can help in recovering language skills, along with brain interconnectivity.
Published in the Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, the paper titled Listening to classical music influences brain connectivity in post-stroke aphasia: A pilot study.
Post-Stroke Recovery
Aphasia affects not only speech, but can also affect the ability to write or read. The proof-of-concept study tested the anecdotal evidence of music therapy, which has shown the potential for using music to enhance cognitive functions, even those damaged after a stroke.
The concept revolves around using the healthy right hemisphere of the brain when a stroke has induced aphasia, or language difficulties. The language centre is located in the left half of your brain.
The idea overall is that music has an impact on brain connectivity, which means that it uses both hemispheres; it brings the two halves together, put simply. Can it then help to facilitate stroke recovery in concrete ways?
The Study
Historically, experts believed that the lingering cognitive disabilities of stroke survivors resulted from dysfunction of the cerebral cortex. Nowadays, researchers in the field have found that the evidence leans more towards a disruption of the neural (nerve) networks.
Previous studies on the role of the right, non-damaged hemisphere after a left hemisphere stroke were inconclusive.
The small study used four right-handed subjects who had experienced symptoms of aphasia three months after a left hemisphere stroke, (which are more common on average than right hemisphere). Their average age was just under 58, and none had prior musical training.
Instrumental music was chosen in favour of vocal compositions since vocal music tends to engage the left hemisphere of the brain, unlike listening to instrumental works.
As the paper’s authors explained,
“Classical music from the Vienna school was selected because it strikes a good balance between expected and unexpected elements, and the length of the typical musical phrases is well-suited to engage working memory, which could help cognitive recovery.”
For two weeks, the patients were randomly assigned:
- Daily 2-hour listening sessions of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven — instrumental pieces only — along with standard rehabilitation treatment;
- Along with the music, a narrator’s voice added the historic context of the work;
- The rest received two weeks of standard care.
After the initial two-week period, the groups switched. In other words, those who’d heard music the first time now received just standard care, and vice versa.
The results were evaluated using cognitive and neuroimaging tests (EEG & MRI) both before and after the study’s end, with a preliminary evaluation after one week. The data showed improvements both in the language tests, and measures of brain connectivity.
- Two patients with relatively mild language dysfunction showed increases in EEG metrics of brain connectivity in the damaged left hemisphere;
- One patient showed changes in white matter microstructures, which also suggest increased connectivity;
- Another patient showed cognitive improvement and increased EEG markers in the right (undamaged) hemisphere;
- Two patients showed improved language test scores.
The study was admittedly small, and the subjects all fell into the same demographic. However, encouraging results mean that larger studies are now warranted.
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