Song Or Rhythm? Scientists Examine Why Singing Helps Correct Speech Problems - Singing has long been thought to help people with severe speech problems, including people who have suffered a stroke. But a new study suggests that it may not be the actual singing that helps -- rather, it's the rhythm from singing that does the trick.
German researchers had 17 people with non-fluent aphasia (an inability to engage in or understand language, which can be caused by a stroke) articulate a few thousand syllables by either singing them, or saying them with a rhythmic or arrhythmic accompaniment. They found that people who sang didn't do any better at articulating the syllables as people who rhythmically said them, suggesting that it's the rhythm that helps with their speech, according to the Brain study.
"The key element in our patients was, in fact, not the melody but the rhythm," study researcher Benjamin Stahl, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, said in a statement.
The study comes on the heels of recent research, that shows that stroke patients with speech problems who sing "How are you?" over the course of months is associated with changes in the right hemisphere of the brain. The idea is that those changes in the right hemisphere can compensate for damage suffered in the left brain's speech areas, researchers said.
Even though this study suggests it's just the rhythm that does the trick, other research shows other benefits singing has on health. Singing can help to lower blood pressure and boost levels of oxytocin (the "cuddle" hormone) , the San Francisco Examiner reported. And people who sing in groups -- choral singers -- report having a higher life satisfaction than the rest of the general public, Discovery Fit & Health reported. ( huffingtonpost.com )
German researchers had 17 people with non-fluent aphasia (an inability to engage in or understand language, which can be caused by a stroke) articulate a few thousand syllables by either singing them, or saying them with a rhythmic or arrhythmic accompaniment. They found that people who sang didn't do any better at articulating the syllables as people who rhythmically said them, suggesting that it's the rhythm that helps with their speech, according to the Brain study.
"The key element in our patients was, in fact, not the melody but the rhythm," study researcher Benjamin Stahl, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, said in a statement.
The study comes on the heels of recent research, that shows that stroke patients with speech problems who sing "How are you?" over the course of months is associated with changes in the right hemisphere of the brain. The idea is that those changes in the right hemisphere can compensate for damage suffered in the left brain's speech areas, researchers said.
Even though this study suggests it's just the rhythm that does the trick, other research shows other benefits singing has on health. Singing can help to lower blood pressure and boost levels of oxytocin (the "cuddle" hormone) , the San Francisco Examiner reported. And people who sing in groups -- choral singers -- report having a higher life satisfaction than the rest of the general public, Discovery Fit & Health reported. ( huffingtonpost.com )
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