Aphasia is a common and devastating complication of stroke that causes severe communication difficulties for tens of thousands of adults each year. One of the few accepted treatments for severe non-fluent aphasic patients is Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT).
The technique was inspired by the common clinical observation that some severely aphasic patients are better at singing the lyrics of songs than they are at speaking the same words. MIT emphasizes the prosody of speech by using slow, pitched vocalization (singing), and has been shown to lead to significant improvements in naming and propositional language beyond the actual treatment period. It has been hypothesized that the therapeutic benefits of MIT are actually due to plasticity of the brain in which right-hemispheric language areas are gradually recruited for the production of normal speech.
The overall aim of our study is to use anatomical and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain to (1) identify which, if any, brain regions must be intact after stroke in order for an aphasic patient to benefit from MIT, and (2) identify the specific brain regions for expressive language functions that could potentially substitute for brain regions that subserved this function prior to the stroke. In order to test our hypotheses, we are conducting a trial in which patients with particular types of aphasia are assessed before, during and after intensive Melodic Intonation Therapy using a series of language tests and brain imaging.
Eligible patients will be offered an intensive 8-12 week therapy program as part of our research protocol which may involve one-on-one daily therapy sessions and interactive web videos and audio CDs for home practice. Patients should be between 21-80 years old (children may be considered on a case by case basis) with impaired speech production but normal comprehension.
If you or someone you know would like more information or is interested in participating in this study, please contact us at aphasia_recovery@yahoo.com
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