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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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
