新奇事件簿 唱歌幫助中風患者
Scientists in the USA have found that singing helps stroke victims with their speech difficulties. Doctors at two different medical schools said they had great success with getting patients to sing words instead of speak them. The treatment is called Music Intonation Therapy (MIT). One of the researchers, Gottfried Schlaug, gave an example of a success story. He showed a video of someone who had a stroke who could not speak the words of a birthday song. The person could only repeat the letters N and O. When Dr Schlaug asked him to sing the song, the words "happy birthday to you" came out. Schlaug said: "This patient has meaningless utterances when we ask him to say the words but as soon as we asked him to sing, he was able to speak the words."
美國科學家發(fā)現(xiàn)，唱歌可以幫助中風患者應對語言障礙。來自兩所不同的醫(yī)學院的醫(yī)生表示，他們通過讓病人唱出歌詞而不是說出詞語取得了很大的成功。這種治療方法叫做音樂發(fā)音治療（MIT）。其中一位研究人員Gottfried Schlaug舉例講述了一個成功的故事。他展示了一段視頻，一位病人患有中風，說不出生日歌的歌詞，只能重復N和O這些字母。當Schlaug醫(yī)生要求他唱這首歌時，他就唱出了“祝你生日快樂”這一句。Schlaug說：“當我們要求他說歌詞的時候，他說的都是毫無意義的話。但是我們讓他唱的時候，他就能把歌詞唱出來。”
The research team is still unclear why MIT works. Dr Schlaug has one theory. He points out that the brain processes music in a different part from that which deals with speech but that there are areas of overlap. "Music-making is a multisensory experience that simultaneously activates several systems in the brain and links and loops them together. It engages many regions of the brain," he said. MIT treatment is a very long process. It can last for up to 16 years and requires hourly sessions five days a week. The good news is the benefits of the therapy are usually permanent. Two thirds of patients who tried MIT with Dr Schlaug reported they could say more words. MIT could potentially help up to 70,000 stroke victims in the USA alone.
研究團隊仍然不清楚為何音樂發(fā)音療法能夠奏效。Schlaug有一個理論。他指出，大腦處理音樂和處理語言使用的是不同的區(qū)域，但是也有重疊的部分。“制作音樂是一個多種感官同時使用的體驗，同時激活大腦中幾個系統(tǒng)，將他們聯(lián)結起來，涉及大腦許多區(qū)域。”MIT療法是非常漫長的過程。該過程可能會持續(xù)16年的時間，要求每天都進行一小時訓練，每周五天。好消息是，治療的效果通常是永久性的。在Schlaug醫(yī)生那里接受了MIT治療的三分之二的病人報告稱他們能夠說出更多詞語。僅在美國，MIT或許就可以幫助7萬名中風患者。
