A new study brings good news to
those who had suffered a stroke: listening to music during the first weeks
after the stroke could help them recover faster, researchers say. Indeed, what
could be more relaxing than listening to your favorite pop or classical music?
Finnish researchers say that
listening to music for only a couple of hours daily could improve mental functioning and
mood, and it is a cheap and simple way to recover from stroke.
The study was published today
online in the medical journal Brain.
Teppo Sarkamo, neuroscientist at Helsinki University and lead author of the study,
said the first months after a “brain attack” are crucial for the patient’s
rehabilitation, Daily Mail notes.
The researchers examined 60
stroke patients shortly after they were hospitalized. The examination lasted
two months, during which some of the patients listened daily to music, others
to audio books, and the rest did not listen to any musical material.
Three months after the stroke,
verbal memory had improved 60 percent in music listeners, 18 percent in audio
books listeners and 29 percent in non-listeners. Moreover, music listeners’
focused attention improved 17 percent, while the other groups recorded no
improvement.
These differences in cognitive
recovery remained for six months and they can be “directly attributed to the
effect of listening to music,” Teppo Sakamo said.
The researchers believe that
music may be stimulating brain region linked to pleasure, reward, motivation
and memory, helping patients feel less depressed and confused.
Mr. Sarkamo said that further
research is necessary to confirm the study, which may not be effective for all
patients, but “it is a promising start.”
“Rather than an alternative,
music listening should be considered as an addition to other active forms of
therapy, such as speech therapy or neuropsychological rehabilitation,” he said.
The findings of the study might
be useful for larger trials regarding the benefits of music for conditions such
as autism, schizophrenia and dementia, AFP reports.
