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marketrent OP t1_jbbbflh wrote

Excerpt from the linked summary^1,2 by Vishwam Sankaran:

>The 50-year-old man from North Carolina, who had metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, showed symptoms consistent with foreign accent syndrome (FAS), according to a recent study in the British Medical Journal.

>The new research marks the first reported instance of a person developing FAS linked to a prostate cancer diagnosis.

>While the 50-year-old lived in England in his 20s and had friends from Ireland, the case study mentions that he had reportedly never spoken with the Irish accent.

>“His accent was uncontrollable, present in all settings and gradually became persistent” until his death, researchers wrote in the study.

>Scientists suspect the patient‘s voice change was likely due to paraneoplastic neurological disorder (PND) – a condition in which a cancer patient’s immune system attacks their nervous system, including parts of the spinal cord, nerves and muscles.

>“His presentation was most consistent with an underlying PND,” they said.

>FAS is a speech disorder that causes a sudden change to a person’s speech patterns, with previous studies finding it to be a condition linked to brain damage, such as following a stroke.

>Since the first-ever diagnosis of the condition in 1907, there have so far been over 110 known cases of the syndrome across the world.

^1 Scientists reveal why American man with prostate cancer developed ‘uncontrolled’ Irish accent, Vishwam Sankaran for the Independent, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/american-man-irish-brogue-prostate-cancer-b2292537.html

^2 Broderick A, Labriola MK, Shore N, et al. Foreign accent syndrome as a heralding manifestation of transformation to small cell neuroendocrine prostate cancer. BMJ Case Reports CP 2023;16:e251655. http://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2022-251655

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BookDumb-StreetDumb t1_jbbxxqy wrote

What a terrible affliction, I can't imagine the pain this must be causing the patient and their family. Truly heartbreaking that anyone would have to go through that.

The cancer sucks, too.

181

CambriaKilgannonn t1_jbckh42 wrote

How does that work? Just your brain switching to what it thinks an irish accent is? Is there a special part of your brain for storing accents?

130

Juskit10around t1_jbcpvr9 wrote

There are so many wild and crazy neurological disorders and afflictions. But for some reason, foreign accent syndrome really blows my mind. It doesn’t compute. I could reason slurring, a lisp, stutters even….but FAS makes me glitch. It seems so bizarre, even though I know it’s serious and the causation(s)behind it is serious.

55

OneHumanPeOple t1_jbctqlq wrote

Replying to Jemeloo (#2,182,932)

There was one woman who had a crappy British accent after a stroke and she even changed the word “dress” to “frock.” So it’s more complicated than just having pronunciation that sounds similar. The brain is attempting to copy a foreign accent.

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Smellbringer t1_jbcv6eg wrote

The weirder part was when he started river dancing.

2

boardingpass10 t1_jbdj69a wrote

Is this essentially Limbic encephalitis? Haven’t heard of it manifesting in altered accent but can certainly cause language disturbance

0

wifespissed t1_jbdl6df wrote

Man, out of all the accents. Poor guy.

−2

casino_alcohol t1_jbdwpgk wrote

Replying to CrossroadsWoman (#2,184,077)

I’m guessing it only does it to the extent that your brain knows it.

Also your brain probably knows what a frock is as you have likely heard it or read it in same way. Your conscience mind may not think or remember it, but your brain might still have that knowledge locked up somewhere.

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blowfish1717 t1_jbdz93s wrote

Obviously, Irish accent is a symptom of brain damage. Various reasons, but usually too much drinking.

−6

dIoIIoIb t1_jbe33iy wrote

Replying to CrossroadsWoman (#2,184,077)

you know barely, but you do

it's like if the road you usually take to go to work is suddenly destroyed, so you're forced to take another one that you've almost never taken before, but you're pretty sure it arrives in the same place, eventually. Maybe it's twice as long or it goes through the Irish part of town, but it gets there.

When your brain gets damaged it stops being able to recall certain pieces of information but not others, some of its roads are broken and others aren't, so it has to work with what's left.

Memory is a network, you can completely forget certain things or skills or events while perfectly remembering others. the part of your brain that held "words I commonly use" gets damaged so it resorts to alternatives that is pretty sure mean the same thing

21

thegooniegodard t1_jbe8jxl wrote

Replying to CambriaKilgannonn (#2,182,765)

My mother was in a terrible automobile accident in the early 2000s. Due to damage to her temporal lobe, for the remainder of her life she spoke in what sounded like an Eastern European or Russian accent until she passed from bone cancer 10 years later. My mother was born and raised in Michigan (United States) and had no Eastern European or Russian background. The brain is a marvel.

40

Domo230 t1_jbeej9r wrote

I bet you the guy doesn't sound even the slightest bit Irish.

9

Morgodai_K t1_jbegx1w wrote

Replying to sillymanbilly (#2,183,934)

I wouldn't be surprised if a collective consciousness is discovered eventually. Haven't there been at least a couple of cases of people with injuries to their brain suddenly becoming fluent in a language they couldn't previously speak?

0

Velbalenos t1_jbevzq9 wrote

Replying to casino_alcohol (#2,184,485)

It sounds a bit like some dreams - I can’t speak for everyone obviously - but I’ve had dreams when ive thought, or met something that I haven’t thought about in years. But it’s clearly locked in there somewhere.

4

Durable_me t1_jbfjam8 wrote

So actually what this article is saying is that being Irish is a desease of the nervous system...?

1

WrathOfTheHydra t1_jbg2gze wrote

Replying to Velbalenos (#2,186,035)

I took 4 years of French and have forgotten most of it. But I will have a dream once in a blue moon where I've had full-blown conversations with people in French. Even having woken up and checked some of the vocab used and it seems to have been at least mostly correct. Pisses me off because when awake I absolutely cannot speak French for the life of me. I think part of it is in dreams you don't need to feel careful or second guess yourself, idk.

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drguyphd t1_jbnjnyq wrote

Sure look it, he’ll be grand so!

1