Research studies suggest that listening to pleasant music may have more than entertainment value, it could actually help stroke victims regain their impaired vision. This proves that music is an under rated positive emotional support system for physical well being.

It is known that most often stroke patients develop vision problems and are unable to track objects in their visual field depending upon the side of the brain damaged by the stroke. This condition is also known as “visual neglect” wherein visual awareness becomes low. The areas of the brain which integrate vision, attention and action are often critically damaged.

UK researchers have shown that patients of ‘visual neglect’ perform better at doing certain tasks while listening to music. Music may help in overcoming the attention deficiency part by inducing positive emotions. The brain scans have confirmed these findings. Listening to pleasant music activated emotional response areas and it did improve performance.

There are more than 150,000 people in UK alone who are affected by stroke every year. Worldwide numbers are higher. It would be highly beneficial if music does help patients to cope up with visual impairment and perform their daily life tasks.

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Via BBC