Communication Sciences & Disorders
The Effect of Music Syntax Therapy on Speech Production in People with Aphasia
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
Communication & Media Studies
Start Date
13-4-2018 9:15 AM
End Date
13-4-2018 10:15 AM
Sponsor
Tonya Bergeson-Dana (Butler University)
Description
Music is often thought to have some medicinal or therapeutic properties across a wide variety of disciplines. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pairing linguistic phrases with the same structure or syntax of music affects the speech production of individuals with non-fluent aphasia. Prior to any intervention, four individuals with non-fluent aphasia were assessed to determine mean length of utterance and syntactic complexity in everyday (formulaic) phrases and less-frequently used (non-formulaic) phrases. They were also given a pre-test designed to measure their understanding of music syntax. They then received three one-hour sessions of linguistic syntax therapy and three one-hour sessions of linguistic syntax therapy paired with a music component to match the linguistic syntax. Both forms of therapy (linguistic syntax or linguistic + music syntax) consisted of the formulaic and non-formulaic phrases. The phrases were divided into varying levels of syntactic complexity. For the linguistic + music syntax condition, the phrases were all set to music with a chord progression that matched the linguistic syntax complexity of the phrase. All participants received both levels of treatment and were assessed after each to determine MLU and syntactic complexity. Order of treatment was counterbalanced. The results of this study will contribute to our knowledge of the relationship between music, speech, and non-fluent aphasia.
The Effect of Music Syntax Therapy on Speech Production in People with Aphasia
Indianapolis, IN
Music is often thought to have some medicinal or therapeutic properties across a wide variety of disciplines. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pairing linguistic phrases with the same structure or syntax of music affects the speech production of individuals with non-fluent aphasia. Prior to any intervention, four individuals with non-fluent aphasia were assessed to determine mean length of utterance and syntactic complexity in everyday (formulaic) phrases and less-frequently used (non-formulaic) phrases. They were also given a pre-test designed to measure their understanding of music syntax. They then received three one-hour sessions of linguistic syntax therapy and three one-hour sessions of linguistic syntax therapy paired with a music component to match the linguistic syntax. Both forms of therapy (linguistic syntax or linguistic + music syntax) consisted of the formulaic and non-formulaic phrases. The phrases were divided into varying levels of syntactic complexity. For the linguistic + music syntax condition, the phrases were all set to music with a chord progression that matched the linguistic syntax complexity of the phrase. All participants received both levels of treatment and were assessed after each to determine MLU and syntactic complexity. Order of treatment was counterbalanced. The results of this study will contribute to our knowledge of the relationship between music, speech, and non-fluent aphasia.