As most know, the brain is divided into two hemispheres: the right and the left. In the left hemisphere, language and speech-motor functions are housed. When a patient suffers a stroke in this hemisphere, they can develop aphasia, or difficulty speaking, naming, repeating and understanding language. New research suggests that looking at how the brain is structured in the right hemisphere of patients may help better predict who will recover better from language problems after a stroke has occurred. “Aphasia is a common and devastating symptom for people who have strokes on the left side of the brain,” said study author Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. “Although many people recover to some degree, many people never make a full recovery, even after intense speech therapy.” To read more about this study, click here.
