In the 1980s and 鈥�90s, Ron Spitzer played bass and drums in rock bands 鈥� Tot Rocket and the Twins, Western Eyes and Band of Susans. He sang and wrote songs, toured the country and recorded albums. When the bands broke up, he continued to make music with friends.
But a stroke in 2009 put Spitzer in a wheelchair, partially paralyzing his left arm and leg. He gave away his drum kit. His bass sat untouched. His voice was a whisper.
Now music is part of his healing. Spitzer sings each week in a choir for people recovering from stroke at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.
鈥淚鈥檝e found my voice, quite literally,鈥� Spitzer said.
Scientists are studying the potential benefits of music for people with dementia, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson鈥檚 disease and stroke. Music lights up multiple regions of the brain, strengthening neural connections between areas that govern language, memories, emotions and movement.
And music seems to increase levels of a specific protein in the brain that鈥檚 important for making new connections between neurons, said Dr. Preeti Raghavan, a stroke rehabilitation expert at Johns Hopkins Medicine and volunteer for the American Stroke Association.
鈥淚t increases the possibility that the brain will rewire,鈥� Raghavan said.
Choirs like the one at Mount Sinai offer the hope of healing through music while also providing camaraderie, a place where stroke survivors don鈥檛 have to explain their limitations.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all part of the same tribe,鈥� Spitzer said.
Strokes often damage cells in the brain's left-hemisphere language center, leaving survivors with difficulty retrieving words, a condition called . Yet the ability to sing fluently can remain, said Jessica Hariwijaya, a research fellow at Mount Sinai who is studying the stroke choir.
Singing can help stroke survivors improve their ability to speak. The National Aphasia Society maintains a list of , including choirs that meet online, for people with the condition.
Spitzer鈥檚 stroke damaged the right side of his brain, which some scientists identify as important for processing musical pitch patterns. He lost the ability to sing familiar music. Once, a Beatles song came on the radio and he tried to sing along but the tune was gone from his mind. He called it an 鈥渙ut-of-body experience."
鈥淚t was like, 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 me,鈥欌�� he said
is in its early days, with the supporting studies on how music works in the brain and how it might be used to treat symptoms of various conditions.
That level of research will be important for music therapy to be more widely reimbursed by health insurers, Raghavan said.
The Mount Sinai study will gauge how participation in the choir affects speech and mood, as researchers compare 20 patients randomly assigned to choir therapy with 20 patients receiving standard care. The study also will measure the effects on the patients鈥� caregivers who participate in the choir.
Now 68, Spitzer has completed other rehabilitation programs that helped him regain physical skills. He walks with a cane, can yell like any New Yorker and has recovered his singing voice.
鈥淚 attribute a good amount of this recovery to the stroke choir,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or me, just getting back to being able to sing a tune was very invigorating.鈥�
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press
