As I was mindlessly doomscrolling this week, I came across a video of a person speaking in a new Italian accent following a stroke. This is a very interesting and rare phenomenon known as Foreign Accent Syndrome. It was first reported over a century ago. It is defined as an acquired speech disorder in which the individual accent is perceived as being ‘foreign’ and unlike the person’s prior native speech.[1]
The cause of this condition is complex and there are three main types: neurogenic (e.g following a stroke), psychogenic and mixed. In the case of neurogenic foreign accent syndrome, no single region of the brain is responsible, instead it is thought to be due to disruption in the neural pathways involved with speech. 3
After watching videos and reading case reports, what struck me was the impact this has on the individual. Imagine waking up and speaking in an accent that is not your own, this can be isolating, and people have reported a sense of grief for the loss of their previous voice.[2] In one case recorded in 1947, a female who was a native Norwegian speaker developed a German accent following a traumatic brain injury. This was problematic for her living in the previously German occupied post-war Norway. She was frequently mistaken for German and reported that shop assistants would refuse to sell her items. [3]
Foreign Accent Syndrome is a reminder of how closely our voice is linked to our identity.
[1] Higashiyama Y, Hamada T, Saito A, Morihara K, Okamoto M, Kimura K, Joki H, Kishida H, Doi H, Ueda N, Takeuchi H, Tanaka F. Neural mechanisms of foreign accent syndrome: Lesion and network analysis. Neuroimage Clin. 2021;31:102760. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102760. Epub 2021 Jul 8. PMID: 34274725; PMCID: PMC8319358.
[2] Science History Institute. The enigmas of foreign accent syndrome [Internet]. Science History Institute; 2023 [cited 2025 Oct 24]. Available from: https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/disappearing-pod/the-enigmas-of-foreign-accent-syndrome/
[3] Marien P, Keulen S, Verhoeven J. Neurological aspects of foreign accent syndrome in stroke patients. J Commun Disord.2019;77:94-113. doi:10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.12.002.