Abstract
Lesion-symptom mapping studies reveal that selective damage to one or more components of the speech production network can be associated with foreign accent syndrome, changes in regional accent (e.g., from Parisian accent to Alsatian accent), stronger regional accent, or re-emergence of a previously learned and dormant regional accent. Here, we report loss of regional accent after rapidly regressive Broca’s aphasia in three Argentinean patients who had suffered unilateral or bilateral focal lesions in components of the speech production network. All patients were monolingual speakers with three different native Spanish accents (Cordobés or central, Guaranítico or northeast, and Bonaerense). Samples of speech production from the patient with native Córdoba accent were compared with previous recordings of his voice, whereas data from the patient with native Guaranítico accent were compared with speech samples from one healthy control matched for age, gender, and native accent. Speech samples from the patient with native Buenos Aires’s accent were compared with data obtained from four healthy control subjects with the same accent. Analysis of speech production revealed discrete slowing in speech rate, inappropriate long pauses, and monotonous intonation. Phonemic production remained similar to those of healthy Spanish speakers, but phonetic variants peculiar to each accent (e.g., intervocalic aspiration of /s/ in Córdoba accent) were absent. While basic normal prosodic features of Spanish prosody were preserved, features intrinsic to melody of certain geographical areas (e.g., rising end F0 excursion in declarative sentences intoned with Córdoba accent) were absent. All patients were also unable to produce sentences with different emotional prosody. Brain imaging disclosed focal left hemisphere lesions involving the middle part of the motor cortex, the post-central cortex, the posterior inferior and/or middle frontal cortices, insula, anterior putamen and supplementary motor area. Our findings suggest that lesions affecting the middle part of the left motor cortex and other components of the speech production network disrupt neural processes involved in the production of regional accent features.
Highlights
Regional accent is a manner of speaking peculiar to a location where its speakers reside (Wells, 1982; Cristia et al, 2012)
Our findings suggest that lesions affecting the middle part of the left motor cortex and adjoining regions disrupt neural processes implicated in the production of regional accent features
The results of the present case series study suggest that damage to the left premotor/motor cortex and other nodes of the speech production network can alter segmental and suprasegmental features that characterize regional accents
Summary
Regional accent (or within-language accent) is a manner of speaking peculiar to a location where its speakers reside (Wells, 1982; Cristia et al, 2012). Interest in the analysis of accent in healthy subjects, is unbalanced since most studies have examined accent perception (AndersonHsieh and Koehler, 1988; Clarke and Garrett, 2004; Bradlow and Bent, 2008; Adank et al, 2009; Brunellière et al, 2009; Cristia et al, 2012; Goslin et al, 2012; Bent and Holt, 2013; Trude et al, 2013; Smith et al, 2014) rather than its production (Harrington et al, 2000; Golestani and Pallier, 2007; Golestani et al, 2007; Ventura-Campos et al, 2013) These studies have provided compelling evidence that understanding messages intoned with a non-native accent (foreign accent) entails more difficulty than processing regional accents, non-familiar regional accents could reduce the intelligibility, efficiency, and accuracy of linguistic processing (Floccia et al, 2006; Cristia et al, 2012; Van Engen and Peelle, 2014). Differences in comprehension of foreign and familiar regional accents have been interpreted as resulting from perceptual distance or different neural processing mechanisms (see Goslin et al, 2012)
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