Melodic Intonation Therapy - Neurophysiological Research

Neurophysiological Research

One study using PET (positron emission tomography) scans found that areas controlling speech in the left hemisphere were "reactivated" by the end of MIT (Belin et al., 1996). Further work suggests that melodic intonation therapy can result in significant changes in brain structure through the brain's own neuroplasticity. Axon connections in the right hemisphere (in right handed patients) were found to be increased in volume after MIT. At least theoretically, this could allow for language processing in right homologous areas, suggesting that the right hemisphere may compensate for an impaired left hemisphere by taking up language processing responsibilities (Schlaug et al., 2009).

However, a recent study suggests that it may not be singing itself that aids speech production and speech recovery in non-fluent aphasic patients, but rhythm and formulaic language. This may be particularly true for patients with left-sided lesions including the basal ganglia (Stahl et al., 2011). In other words, "benefits typically attributed to singing in the past could actually have their roots in rhythm", the authors of the study conclude. Further research is currently conducted to investigate the critical role of rhythm and formulaic language in recovery from aphasia.