BACKGROUND: Despite the potential behavioral and neurological benefits of
Mindfulness Meditation (MM), its use in treating stroke related communication disabilities
appears to be underexplored. Specifically, aphasia, a language disorder resulting from
stroke, may be amenable to the benefits of MM because of the observed attention problems
often underlying the language symptoms.
OBJECTIVE: The current paper presents a case report of an adult with aphasia
who was trained in MM.
METHOD: An adult with aphasia completed a five-day mindfulness training, and
was assessed on measures of language, attention, and physiological measures of cortisol
and heart rate variability. She completed four assessments: two baseline measures,
immediately post training, and one week post training (maintenance).
RESULTS: Overall, changes were observed in both psychophysiological measures
(heart rate and heart rate variability) and behavioral measures (word productivity, phrase
length, word generation, decreased impulsivity, and increased attention).
CONCLUSION: Given the psychophysiological and behavioral changes observed in
this individual, further exploration of the influence of MM in the treatment of
post-stroke aphasia is warranted.
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