Two of the most emailed stories from NPR last week dealt with brain health. The most emailed story was about the use of singing therapy to help stoke victims speak again. Story by Richard Knox is in their Health Blog.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is using a a type of singing therapy to help with her speech.
The therapy is being used on patients who had damage to the left side of the brain. Therapists and patients are trying to teach the right side of the brain to facilitate speech.
Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, who heads a study on singing therapy in Massachusetts says a surprising amount of recovery is possible. He also reports good results working with autistic children and people with Parkinson's disease who have trouble speaking.
The second story about brain health asked, Is There Really Such A Thing As Brain Food? Rob Stein's article for the NPR food blog poses the question, can certain foods or the proper diet protect your brain from diseases like Alzheimer's. There are studies that suggest the right foods like fish were less likely to have their brains shrink. On the other hand, "those who ate a lot of food containing trans fats — found in margarine, some packaged food, fast food and baked goods — tended to experience more brain shrinkage and score more poorly on the thinking and memory tests."
There's a caution in the article. A lot more research is needed.
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