DailyDirt: Curious Behavior

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, Oct 15th 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

The brain is an incredibly mysterious organ that can create some really bizarre psychological effects. Seemingly minor alterations to brain chemistry have resulted in profound changes in human behavior. Here are just a few examples of some interesting (and thankfully rare!) psychological syndromes.

There have been only about 100 cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome documented since its discovery in the 1940s -- people with it usually have some form of brain injury, but not always. One woman went to the dentist to have some teeth pulled and when she woke up from the anesthesia, she started talking in a strange accent. [url]
Capgras' Syndrome is a persistent delusion that a person's closest friends and relatives have been replaced by imposters -- sometimes the person with Capgras even thinks he himself (or she herself) is some kind of duplicate. This sounds like an old Steven Wright joke, but it's probably not that funny to be inexplicably paranoid about everyone you know. [url]
Williams Syndrome is a congenital condition in which people are ultra-friendly and empathetic -- and lack any kind of suspicion or fear. Kids without a fear of strangers can get into a lot of trouble -- if only strangers weren't so horrible people.... [url]

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Filed Under: brain, brain chemistry, capgras syndrome, disorders, foreign accent syndrome, psychology, williams syndrome

6 Comments

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Reader Comments

The First Word

“

Just because someone's paranoid doesn't mean their friends and family aren't imposters...

—Pixelation

”

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Pixelation, 15 Oct 2012 @ 5:29pm

Just because someone's paranoid doesn't mean their friends and family aren't imposters...
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2012 @ 5:39pm

FES or FAS...
So do the ppl with FAS actually have real foreign accents -- or just made up accents that their brains think sound foreign? The woman who woke up after her teeth being pulled had never been to Europe, so it seems pretty impossible for her to have any kind of real British/Irish accent. But is that true for all the other cases, too? They're all just "faking" foreign accents? That must be really ridiculous sounding -- and maybe they should call that Madonna Syndrome instead.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2012 @ 5:43pm

Sounds like bullcrap to me.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2012 @ 8:57pm

I can imagine the Nigerian scammers running wild with a list of Williams Syndrome sufferers.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 16 Oct 2012 @ 12:07am

Williams Syndrome is a genetic condition
The gene involved in Williams Syndrome seems to have two completely different functions: one involving the brain, and the other involving the elasticity of the skin. As a result, Williams Syndrome people all have a similar appearance, notably with a pixie-like nose. Basically, they look like they�re from the same family.

Oliver Sacks did a TV episode at a camp with Williams kids. They got on like a house on fire, and were very musical. But they couldn�t draw the musical instruments worth a darn.
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Telelanguage, 23 Oct 2012 @ 6:57pm

Foreign Accent Syndrome: Bouncing Back
This is fascinating. Do sufferers of Foreign Accent Syndrome eventually go back to their original accent? If so, does it organically happen or must they undergo speech therapy?
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