Word: melodicism
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With the U.S. population rapidly aging and the number of stroke patients multiplying, melodic intonation therapy may present huge opportunities, Norton said.
Norton said that the study’s most promising results lie in the therapy’s accessibility. Any caretaker, regardless of their musical background or level of expertise, can be trained to administer melodic intonation therapy, she said.
“The treatment itself was based on nearly a century of clinical observation that many stroke survivors are able to sing words they are unable to speak,” said Norton, who noted that melodic intonation therapy was first developed in Boston in the 1970s.
Melodic intonation therapy teaches patients to communicate by singing while rhythmically tapping each syllable with their left hand, according to a chapter written by the research team.
Melodic intonation therapy can be helpful for a patient for more than ten years after the person experiences a stroke. In the past, it was believed that the treatment would not work for aphasia patients who did not receive therapy within 12 months after their strokes, according to Norton.