Foreign accent syndrome is a rare medical condition in which the patient develops a speech pattern that is perceived as a foreign accent distinct from their original accent, without obtaining it in the place where the accented origin is.
Foreign accent syndrome is usually the result of a stroke, but it can also develop from head trauma, migraine or developmental problems. This condition was first reported in 1907, and between 1941 and 2009 there were 62 cases recorded.
The symptoms result from distorted articulation planning and coordination processes and although popular news articles generally seek to identify the nearest regional accent, speakers who suffer from foreign accent syndrome do not acquire a particular foreign accent or additional fluency in a foreign language. Although news reports have not been confirmed in 2010 that a Croatian speaker has gained the ability to speak fluent German after emerging from a coma, there has not been a verified case where the patient's foreign language proficiency has improved after a brain injury.
Video Foreign accent syndrome
Signs and symptoms
For untrained ears, they are with sound syndrome as if they were speaking their native language with a foreign accent; for example, a native English speaker from English may sound as if he spoke in a south-east english accent, or a native English speaker from England might speak with a New York American accent. However, researchers at the University of Oxford have found that certain specific parts of the brain are injured in some cases of foreign accent syndrome, suggesting that certain parts of the brain control many linguistic functions, and the damage can cause changes in tone and/or syllable who misconducts, causes speech patterns to be distorted in a non-specific way. Contrary to popular belief that individuals with FAS show their accent without effort, these individuals feel as if they are suffering from speech disorders. Recently, there is ample evidence that the cerebellum, which controls motor function, may be heavily involved in some cases of foreign accent syndrome, reinforcing the idea that speech change is mechanical, and thus nonspecific.
The perception of foreign accent tends to be a case of pareidolia in the listener's part. Nick Miller, Professor of Motor Speech Disturbance at the University of Newcastle has explained: "The idea that a sufferer speaking in a foreign language is something that is in the listener's ears, not the speaker's mouth.This is just that the rhythm and pronunciation of speech has changed."
The late British singer George Michael claims in 2012 that, after waking from a three-week coma, he temporarily has a West Country accent.
Maps Foreign accent syndrome
Diagnosis
Because the syndrome is so rare, it takes a multidisciplinary team to evaluate the syndrome and diagnose it, including speech-language pathologists, neurologists, neurologists, neuropsychologists, and psychologists. In 2010, Verhoeven and MariÃÆ'Â nn identified several subtypes of Foreign Accent Syndrome. They describe neurogenic, developmental, psychogenic and mixed variants. Neurogenic FAS is a term used when FAS occurs after central nervous system damage. FAS development is used when accents are seen at an early age, eg. children who always speak with an accent. Psychogenic FAS is used when FAS is psychologically induced, associated with psychiatric disorders or a clear psychiatric trait. The term FAS mixture is used when the patient develops a disorder after neurological damage, but accent changes have a huge impact on perception and self-identity that they will modify or enhance the accent to fit the new persona. Therefore, there is a psychological component. Diagnosis, to date, is generally based on pure perception. However, to find out what subtype the patient suffers, a complementary investigation is necessary. This distinction is necessary for doctors to enable proper therapeutic guidance. Psychological evaluation can be done to override the psychiatric conditions that may cause changes in speech, as well as tests to assess reading, writing, and language comprehension to identify comorbid disorders often occur simultaneously with the disorder. One of the symptoms of this syndrome is that patients move their tongues or jaws differently when speaking, which creates a different sound, so the recording is done from a speech pattern to analyze it. Often brain images are taken with MRI, CT, SPECT or PET scans. This is done to see if there is structural and or functional damage in the area of ​​the brain that controls speech and/or rhythm and speech melody. EEGs are sometimes performed to investigate whether there is interference at the electrophysiological level.
History
This condition was first described in 1907 by French neurologist Pierre Marie, and other early cases were reported in a Czech study in 1919. Other well-known cases of the syndrome include one that occurred in Norway in 1941 after a young woman, Astrid L., suffered a head injury from shrapnel during an air raid. After recovering from his injury, he was left with what sounded like a strong German accent and shunned by his fellow Norwegians.
Society and culture
Cases of foreign accent syndrome often receive significant media coverage, and cases have been reported in popular media as a result of various causes including stroke, allergic reactions, physical injury, and migraines. A woman with foreign accent syndrome was featured on the Inside Edition and Discovery Health Channel Mystery ER in October 2008, and in September 2013 the BBC published an hour-long documentary about Sarah Colwill, a woman from Devon, whose foreign "Chinese" accent syndrome is caused by a severe migraine. In 2016, a Texas woman, Lisa Alamia, was diagnosed with a Foreign Accent Syndrome when, after a jaw surgery, she developed what sounded like a British accent. Ellen Spencer, a woman from Indiana who has foreign accent syndrome, was interviewed on the American public radio show, Snap Judgment.
In season 2 of episode 12 of the American television series Hart of Dixie, a storyline revolves around the character of Annabeth Nass and a man interested in being named Oliver who has foreign accent syndrome.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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