Music and mindful music listening may help people who have suffered strokes recover their impaired cognitive abilities more effectively, new research suggests today.
In a new paper published in the International Journal of Stroke, researchers and clinicians from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and East Anglia and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde report on the outcomes of a study which aimed to investigate the effects of combining music listening and mindfulness techniques on recovery after a stroke.
In interviews at the end of the eight-week listening phase, participants in the mindful music listening group reported that listening helped them to relax, to focus and concentrate, and to manage emotions. Patients in the music listening group often said that the music increased their activity levels. Participants in both music listening groups talked of how music stimulated recall of memories from the past.
On the standardised tests of cognitive function, participants in both of the music listening groups showed better recovery of memory functions compared to the audiobook group.
