Melodic intonation therapy for aphasia

Author(s): Sparks, Robert W., Helm, Nancy A.

Journal/Book: Archives of Neurology. 1973; 29: 130-131.

Abstract: Describes a new technique for language rehabilitation, melodic intonation therapy (MIT), which involves imbedding short phrases and sentences in a simple, nonlinguistically loaded melody pattern. 1st the therapist and patient sing the sentence in unison, then repeat the sentence in normal speech prosody, and gradually the melodic aspect of the program fades out as confrontation questions are introduced. 3 adult severely aphasic Ss (48, 65, and 67 yrs old) having fair to good language comprehension but remarkedly restricted output, showed significant improvement following MIT, while 2 patients with severe language comprehension defect did not benefit from brief exposure to the therapy. MIT may facilitate use of language by the nondominant right hemisphere, which may have been suppressed by the dominant left hemisphere. Perhaps the right hemisphere has language areas that are not fully utilized under normal conditions. In childhood, the right hemisphere may learn language along with the left so recovery from aphasia is not so much a matter of relearning by the right hemisphere as assuming language functions previously controlled by the dominant left hemisphere. Success of MIT should be viewed with caution until further controlled investigations are performed.

Note: Using Smart Source Parsing Aug melodic intonation therapy; speech development; severely aphasic adults

Keyword(s): Psychotherapeutic techniques; speech therapy; aphasia ; speech development; music

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