Relationship between musical and language abilities in post-stroke aphasia

ABSTRACT

Background

The relationship between structural processing in music and language can be viewed from two perspectives: whether the neural processing of music and language recruits shared neural resources, and whether musical ability is associated with neuroplastic resilience against language impairment.

Aims

This study investigated music and language processing in persons who developed aphasia (PWA) following left-hemisphere stroke, and asked three questions: (1) whether musical structure processing is compromised in PWA, (2) whether there is a relationship between the processing of musical and linguistic structure, and (3) if prior musical ability is associated with post-stroke music and language task performance.

Methods & Procedures

Procedures included four computer-based tasks of sensitivity to structure in music and language, testing of general language impairment, and questionnaires on musical sophistication in 23 PWA.

Outcomes & Results

This study found that PWA’s processing of musical structure was unimpaired relative to neurotypical controls. This was also the case for individuals with agrammatic aphasia, who have a specific deficit in syntactic formulation. Second, music and language structural processing performance was not correlated in the healthy or aphasic group. Third, in PWA, prior musical ability correlated positively with implicit structural processing of music and language, and negatively with aphasia severity. The relationship between musical ability (years of music lessons) and aphasia severity was stronger when combined with an additional group of 15 PWA.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that while structural processing of music and language is dissociated in neurotypical individuals and in those with left-hemisphere damage, there may be a potential for neuroplastic effects of musical training on language impairment.

KEYWORDS:

• Aphasia
• cognitive reserve
• language
• music
• syntax

Acknowledgments

We thank Polina Altskan, Viraj Desai, Hana Fudala, Rebecca McDaniels, and Anjana Rao for assistance with task development and data collection and Tara Pinto for assistance with data analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a Dean’s Research Initiative grant to Faroqi-Shah and Slevc from the University of Maryland’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and an MCM grant for student research to Fisher from University of Maryland’s Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences; University of Maryland Foundation.