http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1267208/Sarah-Colwills-Chinese-accent-brought-migraine-attack.html

Migraine attack gives English woman a Chinese accent
By Luke Salkeld
Last updated at 11:59 AM on 20th April 2010


As anyone who suffers migraines knows, the pain can leave you speechless.
But Sarah Colwill has experienced a much more unusual vocal effect - she now speaks with a Chinese accent.
The disturbing impact of a chronic migraine has left her voice unrecognisable to family and friends.
Doctors say she has Foreign Accent Syndrome, a condition which damages the part of the brain that controls speech and word formation.

It is so rare, there are only 60 recorded cases in the world.
Mrs Colwill, 35, is baffled by the effects and fears she may never regain her normal pronunciation and tone of voice.
She said the change happened after she had such an extreme headache last month that she called for an ambulance.

Paramedics said her voice sounded strange and when she arrived at hospital she realised she was speaking like a Chinese woman.
The IT project manager, who was born in Germany but has lived in Plymouth since she was a child, is having speech therapy to try to revert to her Devon accent.
Mrs Colwill said she had no idea why she had picked up the Far Eastern speech pattern. \'I have never been to China. I just want my own voice back but I don\'t know if I ever will. I moved to Plymouth when I was 18 months old so I\'ve always spoken like a local.
\'But following one attack an ambulance crew said I sounded Chinese. I spoke to my step-daughter on the phone from hospital and she didn\'t recognise who I was. She said I sounded Chinese.
\'Since then I have had my friends hanging up on me because they think I\'m a hoax caller.

\'I speak in a much higher tone now, my voice is all squeaky. To think I am stuck with this accent is getting me down.\'


Mrs Colwill has suffered severe headaches for a decade but this year was diagnosed as having rare sporadic hemiplegic migraines.
The condition causes blood vessels in the brain to expand, resulting in stroke-like symptoms such as paralysis on one side of the body.
The effects normally last for around seven days but Mrs Colwill had several migraine attacks at once, culminating with an excruciating attack on March 20 which caused the brain damage.
She has been contacted by Professor John Coleman, a phonetics expert at Oxford University.
He said Foreign Accent Syndrome is thought to be caused by strokes and brain injuries but the condition is so rare there is limited research into why it happens


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英国女子偏头痛 发病后开口会讲中文？(图) 中评社


莎拉？科尔威尔（Sarah Colwill）
　　中评社香港4月20日电／英国有一名女子长期偏头痛，最近一次发病后，她得了“外国口音综合症”，一开口讲话就有中文口音。

　　今日新闻引述英媒报道，偏头痛是一种很折磨人的病症，患者每次病发时都苦不堪言。英国有一名女性患者，最近偏头痛后出现一种奇特现象，就是从来都没学过中文的她，竟然讲话变得有中文口音！根据医生诊断，她是罹患了罕见的“外国口音综合症”，而这种病确定是偏头痛所造成的。

　　今年35岁的莎拉&#·科尔威尔（Sarah Colwill）是长期的偏头痛患者，最近一次发作时，她整个痛不欲生，丈夫就赶紧叫救护车将她送医。医生替她检查时，发现她脑内的血管不断膨胀，出现类似中风的迹象，其中一边身体还呈现瘫痪。

　　根据医生表示，科尔威尔最近一次发作后，脑部出现了变化，影响她的说话模式，使她讲话有中文口音，这是典型的“外国口音综合症”（Foreign Accent Syndrome）连她的家人和最熟悉她的朋友，都无法认出她的声音。

　　医生说明，在一般情况下，偏头痛病人可能会痛到无法说话，但科尔威尔仍然可以说话，而且声调变得尖又平，即使她是在说英文，但其他人听起来却感觉她在讲中文。她的个案已经吸引世界各地的医生和专家兴趣，他们都想对这个病例进行研究。