Features of post-stroke speech disorders and the prospects of mirror therapy in the recovery of patients

The review describes the features of post-stroke speech disorders, including epidemiological data on their prevalence, spectrum, and characteristics of their various types. The prospects of using mirror therapy for stroke patients as an affordable, simple, safe, inexpensive method are discussed, which is a relatively new direction in the treatment of aphasia. Also, the literature review focuses on various mechanisms underlying a positive therapeutic effect, including the activation of mirror neurons during the performance of specific actions or the observation of hand and facial movements, and the activation of the tongue. Based on the neuroimaging results, we assessed the effectiveness of simultaneous recovery of hand motor function and speech through mirror therapy with visual biofeedback in the rehabilitation of patients with post-stroke speech disorders. The results of numerous clinical studies, meta-analyses, and case reports confirming the effectiveness of mirror therapy for speech disorders after a stroke are presented.