Kenny Rogers Helps Heal Stroke Victims

Kenny Rogers' voice is certainly soothing, but does it also have healing powers?

Researchers in Finland have found that playing music during therapy aids the recovery process for stroke victims. In a recent study published in the journal 'Brain,' patients reported enjoying songs by Frank Sinatra and the Flying Burrito Brothers. But what really stimulated those in the study were the dulcet country ballads of Kenny Rogers.

"We were thinking of calling this the Kenny Rogers Effect," reports David Soto, a co-author of the study.

The 60 patients in the study suffered from a symptom called visual neglect, a spatial disorder that makes them unable to recognize half of their environment. Stroke victims with the condition sometimes eat only the food on one side of their plate, or shave only one side of their faces.

When the patients heard music they didn't like, they performed poorly on tests of their weakened perceptual side. When they heard their favorite songs -- including some of Rogers' classics -- they performed well on those same tests.