Does listening to music improve your language after stroke?

INTERVENTION: The patient cohort will be randomly assigned to either treatment (music listening) + usual care, or a usual care only control condition (stratified based on severity of language deficit). Treatment Group: • The participants assigned to the music listening intervention will be provided with an iPad mini and an Apple Music subscription with their own personalised playlist for the duration of their music listening treatment. An allied health professional (i.e., music therapist, speech pathologist, or allied health assistant), will guide playlist selection and instruct participants on how to access, and listen, to music on the device. • Participants will be instructed to listen to at least 1 hour of music per day (with feedback of total daily listening time provided via the Play Time app). Specific details such as time of day listening occurred, duration of listening for each session, each date listening has taken place, and which songs were listened to are recorded within the Play Time app (with a weekly breakdown of listening activity available). • All participants will also receive usual aphasia treatment delivered by their treating speech pathologists available in each specific health service in which the patient is recruited. CONDITION: Aphasia post stroke; ; Aphasia post stroke Neurological ‐ Other neurological disorders Stroke ‐ Haemorrhagic Stroke ‐ Ischaemic PRIMARY OUTCOME: Change in Western Aphasia Battery ‐ Revised Aphasia Quotient at 3 months post stroke compared to baseline (2‐4 weeks post‐stroke onset)[Baseline (2‐6 weeks) to 3 months post‐stroke onset] INCLUSION CRITERIA: People with Aphasia 1) Single left hemisphere stroke (as diagnosed by neurologist or physician and confirmed by MRI or CT) and speech or language impairment as identified by a speech pathologist or other relevant medical, nursing or allied health staff; 2) below the aphasia cut‐off (93.8 AQ) on the Western Aphasia Battery‐Revised (WAB‐R); 3) medical stability; 4) able to complete a behavioural language, cognitive, mood, and music processing battery between 2‐4 weeks post‐stroke; 5) have sufficient vision and hearing to complete the imaging and behavioural tasks; and 6) proficient in English language prior to stroke. Healthy Controls: 1. English as first language 2. Right Handed 3. Sufficient hearing and vision to complete the imaging and behavioural tasks SECONDARY OUTCOME: Change in comprehension (Comprehensive Aphasia Test) at 3, 6 months post stroke onset compared to baseline.[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset.] Change in functional MRI measure of language‐related brain activity at baseline (2‐4 weeks post‐stroke onset) to 3 and 6 months post‐stroke onset.[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset.] Change in naming (Philadelphia Naming Test) at 3, 6 months post stroke compared to baseline (2‐4 weeks post‐stroke onset)[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset] Change in performance on cognitive and music measures and language changes (composite outcome score) at 3, 6 months post stroke onset compared to baseline (based on Test of Everyday Attention, Montreal Cognition Assessment, Trail Making Test A & B, and The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status‐Update A subtests 1, 9, and 10, Raven's Progressive Matrices, Music Engagement Questionnaire, and the Pitch Discrimination test).[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset.] Change in Western Aphasia Battery ‐ Revised Aphasia Quotient at 6 months post stroke compared to baseline (2‐4 weeks post‐stroke onset)[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset] Changes in cognition at 3, 6 months post stroke onset compared to baseline (based on Test of Everyday Attention, Montreal Cognition Assessment, Trail Making Test A & B, and The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status‐Update A subtests 1, 9, and 10).[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset.] Changes in language processing at 3, 6 months post stroke onset compared to baseline (based on Psycholinguistic Assessments of Language Processing in Aphasia subtests 5, 7, 8, 14 and 15).[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset.] Changes in mood at 3, 6 months post stroke onset compared to baseline (based on the Dynamic Visual Analogue Mood Scale, Stroke Aphasic Depression Questionnaire, and Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale).[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset.] Changes in music and prosody (composite outcome score) at 3, 6 months post stroke onset compared to baseline (based on the Short Montreal Battery for the Evaluation of Amusia, Pitch Discrimination test‐shortened, Montreal Battery of Emotional Prosody, and Music Engagement Questionnaires).[Baseline (2‐4 weeks) to 6 months post‐stroke onset.]