Definition of Aphasia

aphasia

→ noun [mass noun] (Medicine) inability (or impaired ability) to understand or produce speech, as a result of brain damage. Compare with aphonia.

THE BRAIN

WERNICKE'S APHASIA

BROCA'S APHASIA

Music tunes up the brain

by: Concetta Tomaino, D.A.,
Executive director of
The Institute for Music and
Neurologic Function, Beth
Israel Abraham Family of Health
Services, New YorkCity.

Why teach singing to stroke
survivors?

People who have had a stroke on the left
side of the brain might have expressive
aphasia. They can understand speech,
but they can't answer with anything more
than "OK" or by echoing a few words
they've just heard. However, they can
often sing complete lyrics to songs. I
found that if I got my patients to sing a
lot, they were sometimes able to retrieve'
words, and if I sang with them every day,
sometimes they got their speech back. If
you show objects on a table to people
with aphasia, 9 times out of 10 they
can't name them, but if they sing first,
9 times out of 10 they can. I've seen it
over and over, but now we are in the
midst of a huge study to prove it rigorously.

Does music also help other
neurological ailments?
Yes. In my first student job I was
assigned to a dementia unit. Half of the
people were catatonic, and the other
half were so agitated they had to have
their hands tied so they wouldn't pull out
their nasogastric tubes. In my very first
session, I started singing "let Me Call
YouSweetheart." The catatonic people
opened their eyes, the agitated people
calmed down, and half of them started
singing along with me. We have since
done studies comparing music group
therapy withconversational group therapy,
Burn calories. Laughingboosts energy
expenditure by 10 to 20 percent, according
to Vanderbilt University researchers.
Theycalculated that 15minutes of hearty
laughter could burn up to 40 calories,
enough to shed more than 4 pounds a
year if done daily.
Ease pain. Laughter contracts and
relaxes muscles in the abdomen, face,
and shoulders, which might ease muscle
tension and spasms that contribute
to pain. And the temporary distraction
helps too.
Recommendation: While 4-year-olds
laugh about every 4 minutes, adults do
it about once an hour. So spend time
each day having fun. Trade jokes, watch
comedies, horse around with your kids
or grandkids, or share a laugh while in
line at the grocery store. It will brighten
your day-and maybe provide a much appreciated
dose of mirthful medicine.


...and while the conversation groups
improve a little bit, the music groups
learn and retain a lot of new material.

Music is also helpful for Parkinson's
disease, which causes people to freeze
when they are trying to move. If they're
listening to music with a rhythm that
makes them feel like moving, they can
initiate and continue movement as long
as the music continues. It's very dramatic
and happens almost instantly.
Any benefit for healthy people?
We know from research that people will
work out longer and harder with music,
which stimulates brain chemicals that supress
pain. And reading and performing
music is probably one of the fullest brain
workouts a person can have. You're engaging
in physical coordination, processing
and interpreting a complex written
language, and doing lots of auditory processing,
all at the same time. It's a great
argument for early music education.