Choir Singing in Aphasia Rehabilitation

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI · Apr 10, 2018

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

BACKGROUND: Singing is a highly stimulating and versatile activity for the brain, combining vocal-motor, auditory, linguistic, cognitive, emotional, and social brain processes, both in the left and right hemisphere. The capacity to sing is often preserved in aphasia after stroke, and singing-based methods, such as Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT), can be effective in rehabilitating speech production in aphasics. Also emotionally and socially, singing could provide a powerful alternative channel for aphasic patients to express their emotions and interact with others, but the communal or grou...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• The following inclusion criteria are used in patient recruiment:
• • 1. age over 18
• • 2. Finnish-speaking
• • 3. time since stroke \> 6 months
• • 4. at least minor non-fluent aphasia due to stroke (BDAE Aphasia Severity Rating scale score ≤ 4)
• • 5. no hearing deficit
• • 6. no severe cognitive impairment affecting comprehension (the patient is able to understand the purpose of the study and give an informed consent)
• • 7. no neurological / psychiatric co-morbidity or substance abuse
• • 8. ability to produce vocal sound (through singing or humming).