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A Texan went to the hospital for surgery. She woke up with a startling British accent.
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Washington Post
Posted: July 3rd, 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/2...
Lisa Alamia had the jaw surgery in December. She underwent the procedure to correct a serious overbite, and it was a success, according to Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. The 33-year-old woke up and had minimal swelling. But then she began to talk. The voice coming out of Alamias mouth didnt sound like it belonged to a Houston-area native. It sounded British. My daughter laughs at the way I say tamales. I used to be able to say it like a real Hispanic girl, Alamia told KHOU. Now, I cannot. Months later, she still speaks as if shes from across the pond. Eventually, she saw neurologist Toby Yaltho at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Neurology Associates, who diagnosed her with a very rare condition: Foreign Accent Syndrome, or FAS. The rare speech disorder was first described in 1907 by French neurologist Pierre Marie, and since then, there have been only about 100 documented cases. A person with FAS has an accent considered by the patient, others and doctors to sound foreign and unlike the patients previous dialect. Previous exposure to such an accent isnt necessary. FAS usually follows stroke, while its also been diagnosed following traumatic brain injury, cerebral hemorrhage and multiple sclerosis. Only a few cases seem to have psychological origins. The cause of Alamias FAS remains a mystery. Everything came back normal, Yaltho said in a release. There was no evidence of stroke or other abnormalities.
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