Czech speedway driver knocks himself out, then ends up speaking perfect English, if only for a day or two...

This kinda reminds me of the (I think) British woman who after a head injury, ended up speaking with a Jamacian accent. Or did I imagine that story?

I'm sure I've heard that thing about the british woman with the jamaican accent, to be honest this has always fascinated me, if you speak two languages perfect but someone get amnesia and wake up which language do you speak?

EDIT: Anyone know how to self induce a concussion

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Perhaps he was not fully able during this time. They say he didn't know who he was. It reminds me of people who are geniuses in one area but have other mental or physical problems in others. In that way it's similar to hypnosis, some parts of the brain are shut down while others get a boost, that would be my explanation.

So he would have memorized everything he heard and read in english, but in his normal conscious state, the brain is too busy with other things and only a fragment can readily be used. Like this Russian guy who had incredible memory, but at the same time his mind was saturated with mental associations which wore him down.

At the rate we're going, in a hundred years or two we might be able to induce such benefits without forgetting who we are, and most importantly without the concussion

I think it's back to the theory that humans utilise only 10% of their brain.

meolox Wrote:I think it's back to the theory that humans utilise only 10% of their brain.

That's really an urban legend though. We use different parts of our brain depending on what we're doing.

Maybe so, but humans utilise more of their brain under dangerous or life threatening situations, maybe this guys brain went into overdrive mode much like the sudden rush of addrenaline released when in danger. Although if the guy just started learning english where did all this vocabulary come from if he was fluent, maybe he got if from osmosis from hearing english TV or something.

From what I've read it's the opposite. When in danger much of our brain shuts down and we run off of our animal-instinct like functions from long ago. Freeze/flee/piss yourself/etc

I've heard a few stories also of children when they're parents are in danger they gain intelligence much beyond their years when it requires them to find help ie calling ambulance.

meolox Wrote:I think it's back to the theory that humans utilise only 10% of their brain.

I think we only use 10% of our hearts! <3

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Ok, that was the answer to rule them all

Aha! I thought I wasn't imagining it... it even has a name. Foreign Accent Syndrome.

Though its interesting. In this woman's case, he needed to hear herself played back on tape to realise that her accent had changed, and wasn't too happy about it. Though, every time I've recorded my own voice and played it back I've not been too thrilled about that either.

"I sound like what!?"

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Yeah, we always hear our own voice "from inside" which is different.

But this woman's case is quite different than the Czeh guy, she didn't speak another language and her accent is just her altered voice sounding like some other language's accent. She didn't really get it from exposure to the language in question.

Most psychologists now think the idea of something being "stored in your subliminal" is a load of crap. The idea that you are recording everything you see and hear and just don't know it has been disproven hundreds of times. That's not how memory works.

Honestly, I doubt this is what it appears to be. Hyperbole and sensationalist reporting (or maybe a lying Czech) are more likely the root of this. Even if the incident really did happen, and an English student really did wake up speaking only English, I'd still wouldn't believe that his English was "better" than before the concussion based on nothing more than a friend's words.

meolox Wrote:Anyone know how to self induce a concussion

I guess that you could jump head first to street pavings but I don't recommend it.. (accidentaly tried that once when I was a child..)

news.bbc.co.uk Wrote:The 60-year-old may have Foreign Accent Syndrome, where patients speak differently after a _brain injury_.

I wouldn't want to self induce that thought! The woman said that it sucked and furthermore..

news.bbc.co.uk Wrote:The syndrome was first identified during World War II, when a Norwegian woman suffered shrapnel damage to her brain. She developed a strong German accent, which led to her being ostracised by her community.

This sounds nice too..