Intensive language training enhances brain plasticity in chronic aphasia

Abstract

Focal clusters of slow wave activity in the delta frequency range (1-4 Hz), as measured by magnetoencephalography, are usually located in the vicinity of structural damage in the brain. Such oscillations are usually considered pathological and indicative of areas incapable of normal functioning owing to deafferentation from relevant input sources. In the present study, we investigated th change in Delta Dipole Density in 28 patients with chronic aphasia following cerebrovascular stroke of the left hemisphere before and after intensive language therapy (3 hours/day over 2 weeks). Neuropsychologically assessed language functions improved significantly after training. Perilesional delta activity decreased after therapy in 16 of the 28 patients, while an increase was evident in 12 patients. The magnitude of change correlated with the amount of change in language functions as measured by standardized tests. These results emphasize the significance of perilesional areas in the rehabilitation of aphasia even years after the stroke and might reflect reorganisation of the language network that provides the basis for improved language functions after intensive training.