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Aprosodia and Its Treatment

¹ Neurology Service, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
² VA R&RD Brain Rehabilitation Research Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
³ Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

Aprosodia is a deficit in comprehending or expressing variations in tone of voice used to express both linguistic and emotional information. Affective aprosodia refers to a specific deficit in producing or comprehending the emotional or affective tones of voice. Aprosodia is most commonly associated with right hemisphere strokes; however, it may also result from other types of brain damage such as traumatic brain injury. Although research investigating hemispheric lateralization of prosody continues, there is strong evidence that most aspects of affective prosody are directed by the right hemisphere. Disorders of emotional communication can have a significant impact on quality of life for those affected and their families. However, there has been relatively little research regarding treatment for this disorder. Recently, 14 individuals were treated for affective aprosodia using two treatments, one based on cognitive-linguistic cues and the other on imitation of prosodic modeling. Most of the participants responded to at least one of the two treatments, and a refinement of the treatments are currently underway. Because researchers are finding support for the hypothesis that expressive aprosodia can result from a motor deficit, the refined treatment incorporates principles of motor learning to enhance imitation of prosodic models, as well as cognitive-linguistic cues.