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We did not spend much time in class discussing the article on music and improvement of speech in stroke patients; however, music and the brain in general is a very interesting and mysterious topic.  What is it about music that is so powerful and memorable?  I’m sure you’ve all had the experience where a song comes on that you haven’t heard in years, yet you can still sing along to all of the lyrics.  Similarly, music can be very important for people with Alzheimer’s.  For example, my friend’s grandmother has had Alzheimer’s for five years.  She does not recognize anyone and often speaks nonsensically, yet she can still sing the lyrics to songs from her childhood.  Perhaps music plays such a powerful role because it integrates several regions of the brain.  It must incorporate areas important for words and grammar as well as tones and harmony.  Thus, the lyrics to a song probably create a stronger and more complex network of connections in the brain than the memory of a passage in a book.  With this in mind, it is perhaps not surprising that music may be important for improving speech in stroke patients.  For example, if areas important for decoding harmony or chords are in tact, then perhaps hearing the melody of a common song will trigger the use of what connections are left in regions important for speech and even stimulate the creation of new connections.