Children learn their first language in the first years of life. With that comes a unique accent that is engrained in the brain. Or is it? There are growing reports of people who spontaneously switch their accents. This is the story behind foreign accent syndrome.

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Foreign accent syndrome is a rare neurological disorder with 100 documented cases worldwide. Foreign accent syndrome can have different causes including brain trauma, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia or functional brain disorder. Although these are all distinct disorders, they most likely cause foreign accent syndrome by inhibiting the speech network. The speech network is a complex system in our brains that goes hand in hand with our accents. If the speech network is damaged, the spoken language might change leading to foreign accent syndrome. In some documented cases, foreign accent syndrome has only been temporary (meaning that in vanished after several months or years). The term foreign accent syndrome itself is misleading as patients do not adapt a foreign accent but the changes are perceived as an accent. This phenomenon is called perceptual bias and it helps us to explain why different people assign different accents to a foreign accent syndrome patient. That's foreign accent syndrome in a nutshell!

Music, Images & References:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d...

00:00-00:29 Intro
00:29-4:17 How Accidents Cause Foreign Accent Syndrome
4:17-6:52 Neurotransmitters & Reoccuring Accents
6:52-10:52 Perceiving Foreign Accent Syndrome


About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (Sciencerelx) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.