[neuroling] Re: any comment, anybody ?

  • From: " Andrew W. Siegal Ph.D." <asiegal1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <neuroling@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 11:32:26 -0400

and please forgive my mis-spelling of "Buoiano"    ..ASiegal
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Andrew W. Siegal Ph.D. 
  To: neuroling-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; Giancarlo Buoiano 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 11:22 AM
  Subject: [neuroling] Re: any comment, anybody ?


  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."

                advertisement
                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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    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@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx    
    phone +972-4-6398-393
    fax +972-4-6392-025





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