In 1941, the brain of a Norwegian woman was injured by shrapnel in a German bombing run. When she improved from her head injury, she started speaking her local Norwegian language with a heavy German accent. The doctors were unable to determine the cause of this phenomenon, though some villagers started suspecting that the woman was a German spy. She was ultimately shunned by the other villagers, and she never salvaged her normal Norwegian accent. Her enormously rare condition was entered into the medical books as Foreign Accent Syndrome.
Causes of Foreign Accent Syndrome
Foreign Accent Syndrome is very rare, so there are less than 20 cases registered in the world since 1941. No one knows what exactly causes Foreign Accent Syndrome to occur. However, almost all cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome have occurred after a serious brain injury, stroke or aneurysm. The patient suffering from Foreign Accent Syndrome can recover from the initial trauma, but he/she may speak in a foreign accent for a number of weeks or months after recovery has taken place. A number of medical professionals first assumed that the foreign accent syndrome was an emotional condition; however, further research explained that nearly all victims experienced damage in a specific section of the brain which controls language.
Individuals having Foreign Accent Syndrome are frequently troubled with its surprising onset. Family and friends, as well as the media, usually become totally captivated by the unexpected accent transformation. Medical and language researchers may desire to put the patient through a battery of tests. Some patients suffering from Foreign Accent Syndrome recover their original accents; however, many don’t.
There is a person in the Atlanta with a mental illness that started speaking in a foreign accent. Could he have Foreign Accent Syndrome? Medical professionals state that Foreign Accent Syndrome cannot be caused by a psychological disorder.
Sources:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-foreign-accent-syndrome.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6241218&tqkw=&tqshow=GMA
http://www.mentalhero.com/?cat=14
Comments
Foreign Accent Syndrome: Ve hav ways of making you talk!
:)
You'd think that damage to the language center would cause the person to speak in an *unidentifiable* accent, that is to say, to sound like someone foreign to whoever was listening. How is it, then, that the first person so afflicted started speaking with an accent that every auditor identified, and identified the same way?
Something's fishy here. It sounds as though this Norwegian woman was not necessarily a German spy, but a *changeling*--one born into one language group, who learned to talk in another way, and then, following the specific injury, lost those lessons and started shaping her consonants and vowels the way she first learned as an infant.
I suggest carefully researching the early family histories of all identified FAS cases. Let's see whether adoption, or child abduction, was a part of each history.
I don't see anything fishy, Terry. The lady in the video was a TV news caster and her voice totally changed. I've seen this a few times on the news. I saw a medical journal publication on this subject, but I would have to pay to read it, and I'm not about to pay for information I can get elsewhere on the Net.
Wow--what a strange thing to happen. Never heard of it before!
Thanks Hugh and Sherri for your comments. :)
Interesting..:-) I change my accent sometimes, but that's just because I have grown up around many different accents.
I can understand what Emylou says easily. This is true when there are many different nationalities and dialects spoken in a household.
Having this condition happen is something new. Never heard of this happening to anyone - till now. Thanks for sharing this story - very interesting and something I am sure they are still working on to find all the reason why this happens and why some recover and other don't.
I know that Foreign Accent Syndrome is real because I am living proof! This is really a pretty good introduction of what it is. However, I would disagree with the number of cases medically documented. You state 20 ever in the world and I know of 13 right now and I believe there are more. However it is commonly accepted that it is extremely rare and more like 60-100 cases ever since the original case was documented.
As a former pre-med student I am constantly amazed at the lack of understanding that we have of the human brain! Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made!
My own case started May 12,2009 after an exceptionally severe migraine and spreading facial numbness on one side. CT and MRI did not show a stroke yet something profound DID happen for although the facial numbness and headache were gone in days, I now speak like an eastern European, Swedish/French person speaking English depending on what words I am saying and interpretation of the listener. See my site for lots of postings about living with this when not even many medical specialists have even heard of it before. MerryChristmas everyone! Http://ellen5e.com
excellent article, I never knew about this disorder and it is rare that I don't know about disorders lol
Due to severe brain injury, some individuals acquire something known as Foreign Accent Syndrome, which usually involves speaking home language in foreign accent. It is a very rare syndrome, more than 60 people have been reported to have acquired this from 1941 till now. http://www.whatisall.com/unusual/what-is-foreign-accent-syndrome.html
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