Expert explains why British woman woke up with Italian accent after stroke even though she's never been to Italy
An expert has explained why a British woman woke up with an Italian accent after having a stroke.
Althia Bryden, 58, is retired and lives in London with her husband and full-time carer, Winston, 63.
Back in May 2024, Althia suffered a stroke at home and was unable to speak or feel the upper right area of her body.
The issue was down to a carotid web in her neck, which she had removed during surgery, allowing her to be able to speak again.
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But when she woke from surgery and heard her own voice, she didn't recognise who was speaking.
Althia had an Italian accent, despite having never visited Italy.
Discussing what happened on This Morning last month, Althia told Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond that she didn't realise the person who was talking was her.
"I heard this voice... I didn't realise it was me. I looked behind me in my hospital bed, who is speaking?" She said.
"Why am I speaking like this?"
Husband Winston had a huge shock, too, after hearing his wife talking in a completely different accent.
"I feel like a stranger in my own body," said Althia.
"Nobody can tell me what is happening to this.
"I have no clue."
Althia says she tries to see her new voice as a blessing, explaining she is grateful to have recovered from her stroke.
Speaking to the show, Emeritus Professor Nick Miller explained why Althia's voice sounds so different.
"What's happening is if it's affected parts of the brain that control your speech, your tongue, your lips and your vocal chords, that affects the strength of movement, the speed of movement, the range of movements of your tongue and lips, that in turn alters the way your speech sounds or the rhythm of speech," said Professor Miller.
The expert also explained that after a stroke, the patient may start to add extra sounds in to their usual speech, which can in turn make it sound different.
Called the foreign accent syndrome, the NHS describes the phenomenon as happening as a result of brain damage, such as a stroke.
Although Althia is waiting for a formal diagnosis, she feels like she’s lost her identity.
"Even my laugh is not the same… I’m not me, it’s like someone is impersonating me. I feel like a clown with an upside-down smile that people are watching perform. They are laughing, but I still have an upside-down smile," she told PA Real Life.
“It’s very sad – everything is different, even my body language is different. People aren’t meeting the original me, I don’t know who I am.”
Althia was also diagnosed with aphasia, which is when a person has difficulty with their language or speech, as per the NHS.
She said: “My brain couldn’t understand it – it was very frightening for me and I felt afraid and confused.”
Lucy Devine