Melodic Intonation Therapy in Post-Stroke Non-Fluent Aphasia and Its Effects on Brain Plasticity
Journal of Clinical Medicine
García-Casares, N., Barros-Cano, A., et al. (2022).
Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(12), 3503.
This systematic review explores the the impact of melodic intonation therapy on language outcomes in individuals with non-fluent aphasia status post stroke. Neuroimaging regarding language lateralization and neuroplasticity is additionally investigated.
University of Málaga (Spain); PAIDI Group
Not specified
Peer-reviewed articles
16
Findings demonstrated that individuals with non-fluent aphasia status post stroke generally showed improvements in verbal expression following the use of melodic intonation therapy (MIT). Limited evidence was provided for the superiority of MIT over conventional speech treatments (CST), however, of note, characteristics of these CSTs were not provided. Results regarding neural imaging were mixed, with studies demonstrating that MIT resulted in an increase in neural activity in the right hemisphere, left hemisphere, and/or both hemispheres. Heterogeneity between and within studies, small sample sizes, and limited use of experimental controls were notable limitations to this review. Further research is indicated to determine the overall efficacy of MIT and its outcomes in comparison to/over other speech-language pathology treatments in this population.
