Music can recovery of stroke patients quickly, according to research conducted research team from Finland as reported by Reuters news agency on Wednesday.
Stroke patients who diligently listening to music every day, according to the research, it has increased in verbal memory and has a better mood than patients who do not enjoy music or stroke therapy through this music.
Music indeed has long been used as a medical therapy, but the study published in the journal Brain is the first research to prove its effect in humans.
“These findings are the first evidence that listening to music at an early stage after stroke can enhance cognitive recovery and prevent the emergence of negative feelings,” said the research team.
Stroke, which occur when blood flow to the brain is blocked, can make no functioning brain tissue. This disease is one of the main causes of death and permanent disability in the world.
The research involved 60 volunteers who recently suffered a stroke in the middle of the blood vessels (middle cerebral artery) on the right and left hemisphere of the brain. Such a stroke can affect motor control, speech and a number of other cognitive functions.
The volunteers were then divided into two groups. One group was asked to listen to your favorite music or audio books (audiobooks) them every day, while another group did not listen to any music.
Three months after a stroke, a group of music listeners and audio books to show improvement in their verbal memory, respectively 60 percent and 18 percent better than the other groups.
The ability to focus attention also increased 17 percent in those who listen to music, said Teppo Sarkamo, a psychologist at the Cognitive Brain Research Unit of Helsinki University who headed the research.
Music can activate the mechanism identified in the brain that improve and update the neural network after a stroke, Sarkamo said.
According to him, research in other stroke therapy is needed to better understand what is actually happening in the brain. But these findings, he added, have shown that music can be used as additional therapy one of cheap and easy for people with stroke.
“This research can be regarded as a preliminary study and become a promising start,” said Sarkamo. (*)
Leave a Reply