A new Finnish study has revealed that listening to music can help stroke patients recover faster, according to the journal Brain as quoted by media reports Wednesday.

Researchers said that stroke patients who listened to music for a couple of hours each day were able to recover faster than those who did not listen to music.

Music therapy is something that has been believed in for quite some time, and it has been found to help the stroke patients improve their verbal memory much faster. It also keeps them in higher spirits during recovery.

Researchers stated in their report that "These findings demonstrate for the fist time that music listening during the early post-stroke stage can enhance cognitive recovery and prevent negative mood."

The study looked at over 60 recent stroke patients. The stroke had a major impact on their motor controls, cognitive function range and speech.

There were two groups set up, one group which listened to music, and one which did not.

The stroke patients who listened to music showed a 60 percent better improvement in verbal memory.

"This could be considered a pilot study," said Teppo Sarkamo, a psychologist at the Cognitive Brain Research Unit at the University of Helsinki, who led the study. "It is a promising start."

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2008)