Can music help reset neural pathways in the brain for stroke victims left with debilitating damage? Scientists want to know.
Ron Spitzer played bass and drums in rock bands in the 1980s. He sang, wrote songs, toured the country, and recorded albums. When the bands broke up, he continued making music as a hobby.
But a stroke in 2009 put Spitzer in a wheelchair. It left his left arm and leg paralyzed. He gave away his drum kit. His bass gathered dust. His voice was a whisper.
Now music is part of his healing. At Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, New York, Spitzer sings each week in a choir for people recovering from stroke.
Most of the time, the choir sings well-known songs like “Down by the Riverside” and “What a Wonderful World.”
Scientists are studying the potential benefits of music for people suffering with dementia, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke. One study suggests that listening to Mozart’s “Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major” can help people have fewer epileptic seizures. That’s because music lights up multiple regions of the brain. It can strengthen neural connections between areas that govern language, memories, emotions, and movement.
And music may increase levels of a specific protein in the brain that’s important for making new connections between neurons. Dr. Preeti Raghavan is a stroke rehabilitation expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“It increases the possibility that the brain will rewire,” Raghavan says.
Choirs like the one at Mount Sinai offer hope for recovery. The choir also offers a place where everyone fits in. No one must explain why they sometimes struggle. “We’re all part of the same tribe,” Spitzer says.
A stroke deprives sections of the brain of oxygen. That can damage brain cells that process language. This leaves some survivors with aphasia (loss of ability to understand or use words). Yet the ability to sing easily can remain. And singing might help make new neuron connections that lead to recovered speech.
For Spitzer, it took time to learn again to sing. The stroke damaged the right side of his brain. Some scientists believe that the right side of the brain allows people to recognize musical pitch patterns. One time, a Beatles song came on the radio. Spitzer tried to sing along, but the tune was gone from his mind. He called it an “out-of-body experience.”
Other rehabilitation programs have helped Spitzer regain physical skills. He walks with a cane and can also make some music now.
“I’ve found my voice, quite literally,” Spitzer says.
Why? Music proclaims our God’s loving power to “heal all our diseases.” (Psalm 103) And we can use music to praise Him for that generosity!
