Singing is Excellent Therapy for Stroke Patients

Singing helps stroke patients recover speech–study of this has shown that the act of singing will literally rewire the brain of a stroke victim. Patients who’ve had a stroke don’t need to have a perfect singing voice to reap the benefits of what it can do for their damaged speech centre. The most amazing part of this study was that although the stroke patient couldn’t speak the words to a well-known song, the patient could sing each word of the song with ease. This is due to the fact that there are different parts of the brain used for speech and singing.

The singing therapy used for stroke patients is called Melodic Intonation Therapy. This is an ongoing study to see how many stroke patients continue to benefit from this type of therapy. Due to the current high rate of success, it is now considered to be a medical technique. Patients that weren’t able to ask for a glass of water were taught to put words to a melody, thus providing them with an outlet for communicating effectively. This singing therapy is an excellent break-through in the world of science, enabling stroke patients the chance to be verbal once again.