Boing Boing: After stroke, UK woman speaks with Jamaican accent

Boing Boing: After stroke, UK woman speaks with Jamaican accent:

Researchers at Oxford University have found that patients with foreign accent syndrome have suffered damage to areas of the brain that affect speech.

The result is often a drawing out or clipping of the vowels that mimic the accent of a particular country, such as Spain or France, even though the sufferer has limited exposure to that accent. The syndrome was first identified during the Second World War when a Norwegian woman suffered shrapnel damage to her brain. She developed a German accent, which led to her being ostracised by her community.