Clinical foreign accent syndrome evolving into a multiplicity of accents

Abstract

Foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a speech disorder of abrupt onset in which the affected person's spoken output is altered such that it is perceived to have the quality of a foreign accent. FAS has most frequently been reported following stroke or trauma, but the diagnostic label has also been used to capture the clinical presentation of cases of suspected psychiatric origin. We describe here the case of a 37-year-old woman, DR, admitted to emergency for slurred speech, left-sided weakness, headache, and photosensitivity. On clinical grounds, her presentation was of sufficient concern to administer thrombolytic therapy. On day 9 of her admission DR began to speak with a French accent. Over t..