[neuroling] Re: any comment, anybody ?
- From: " Andrew W. Siegal Ph.D." <asiegal1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <neuroling-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Giancarlo Buoiano" <neuroling@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:22:46 -0400
Prof. Guiora & Dr. Boiano,
Let me thank you both for forwarding this wonderful description of what sounds
like a classical case of Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) as first described by
G.H. Monrad-Krohn during WW II when a Norwegian woman suffered a penetrating
shrapnel wound adjacent to Broca's area and as her recovery proceded to near
perfection, she inexplicably developed a distinct and clipped, German accent,
which given the sociopolitical Zeitgeist in Norway at the time was not a social
advantage. The lady found herself not only brain injured but scorned.
I have seen at least two personal cases of FAS, and I am sure that the missing
third case at the edge of my memory fields will reveal itself later in the day,
but can assure you that the appearance of FAS, as initially reported by
Monrad-Krohn, usually follows an expressive aphasia, either Broca's aphasia or
subcortical motor aphasia.
Usually FAS is discussed in terms of its resulting from one or another of the
dysprosodiae, and the selective effect of the melodic intonation, timing, and
emphasis upon the articulation of vowel sounds may be the key element in
explaining the change in dialect experienced by the British young man.
Ross points out that nearly 100 years ago Hughlings Jackson pointed out that
the para-linguistic aspects of language would be found to be subserved by the
right hemisphere, and indeed over time the role of the non dominant hemisphere
in producing dysprosodiae has required consideration. I think that it would be
fair to say that FAS represents various hyper and hypo functions of selective
elements of prosodic (and often gestural) aspects of communication as they
attempt to reintegrate with linguistic elements during the recovery process.
The FAS, itself, would represent a "secondary symptom" within Kurt Goldstein's
conceptualization of neuropsychopathology, or "the rule of the ungoverned"
within Jackson's.
If it would not be perceived as presumptuous, let me refer you to a text which
I found enormously useful and which has an excellent review of both the
dysprosodiae and FAS. Elliot D. Ross, M.D., The Aprosodias. pp 743-753 in Todd
Feinberg, M.D. & Martha Farah, Ph.D., Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychology.
(2nd edition) McGraw Hill, NY, 199/2003.
Ross devotes considerable attention to detailing the various linguistic and
paralinguistic elements, which if disordered are capable of resulting in FAS.
My Best Regards and I hope that this information is
of use.
Andrew W. Siegal, Ph.D.
Clinical Professor of
Psychology
Division of Psychology
in the
School of Education &
Psychology Graduate Division
Touro College
----- Original Message -----
From: Alexander Z. Guiora
To: Giancarlo Buoiano ; neuroling-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 6:17 AM
Subject: [neuroling] any comment, anybody ?
Vowel surgery: brain op boy baffles doctors after waking up with 'posh’
RP accent
By Laura Clout
Last Updated: 2:31am BST 18/09/2007
William McCartney-Moore,10, from York, who speaks with a
different accent since brain surgery
A ten-year-old boy who underwent life-saving brain surgery has
astonished doctors by emerging with a different accent.
William McCartney-Moore fell seriously ill with a rare strain of
meningitis last March and had an operation to remove fluid on his brain.
But in the weeks since his treatment, William, from York, has
lost his northern twang and acquired the elongated vowels of received
pronunciation (RP).
His mother, Ruth McCartney-Moore, said: "He survived the
operation and the most amazing thing is that he came out of surgery with a
completely different accent."
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The family first noticed the change in William’s accent after he
left hospital in April: "We went on a family holiday to Northumberland and he
was playing on the beach and he said 'Look, I’ve made a sand castle’ but really
stretched the vowels, which made him sound really posh."
"We all just stared back at him — we couldn’t believe what we had
heard because he had a northern accent before his illness. He had no idea why
we were staring at him — he just thought he was speaking normally."
William’s illness began with a headache and a high temperature,
she said. "A few days later he had a massive seizure."
William was rushed to hospital and doctors found he had
meningitis and empyema — or pus on the brain — and he was operated on.
Mrs McCartney-Moore, 45, a music teacher said: "All the doctors
and surgeons thought he was going to die. Before he went in I cut off a lock of
his hair to keep.
"He lost everything. He couldn’t read or write, he couldn’t
recognise things and he’d lost all his social skills."
But 18 months on, William has made a near-total recovery.
His mother added: "It’s bizarre, but I think it has worked in his
favour because we all smile when he does it and it has brought a bit of humour
into the situation."
Phil Edge, the head of therapy services for international charity
Brainwave, said it is rare for a child to change accents after surgery.
"Some people believe … that the [brain] cells that are damaged
can’t be replaced and other cells take over — so here he has re-learned how to
speak with a different accent.
"It is not very common, I have worked here 20 years and can’t
think of an instance where a child has spoken with a different accent after
surgery."
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For the full copyright statement see Copyright
Alexander Z. Guiora Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of
Psychology, Psychiatry and Linguistics
The University of Michigan
aguiora@xxxxxxxxx
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
University of Haifa
Haifa, Israel 31905
aguiora@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
phone +972-4-6398-393
fax +972-4-6392-025
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