Righting a wrong? Right side of brain can compensate for post-stroke loss of speech

Righting a wrong? Right side of brain can compensate for post-stroke loss of speech
After a debate that has lasted more than 130 years, researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that loss of speech from a stroke in the left hemisphere of the brain can be recovered on the back, right side of the brain. This contradicts recent notions that the right hemisphere interferes with recovery.
While the findings will likely not put an immediate end to the debate, they suggest a new direction in treatment.

The study, published online in Brain, is the first to look at brain structure and grey matter volume when trying to understand how speech is recovered after a stroke. Results show that patients who have regained their voice have increased grey matter volume in the back of their right hemisphere – mirroring the location of one of the two left hemisphere speech areas.

PR:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/gumc-raw110315.php

Paper:
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/10/31/brain.awv323

#neuroscience   #poststroke   #language   #speech