
Contributing Author: Joseph J. Cooper, MD and Stephanie Yarnell, MD, PhD
Overview: The relationship between the mind and the brain is of great interest both within the field of psychiatry and in the public at large. The brain holds possibilities for some fascinating stories of organic disease. While stories of psychiatric disease may also be fascinating, cases of ambiguous etiology may raise questions of whether the subject is “faking.” The exploration of symptoms that lie at the mind-brain interface involves a need for the understanding of both neurology and psychiatry. Psychiatrists well informed about neuroscience and clinical neurology should be the best-equipped clinicians to take on this task. We present here a Facilitator’s Guide covering a fascinating story presented on NPR’s Snap Judgment podcast of a woman who developed a sudden onset of Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS). Content-based learning objectives include that the participant will be able to describe: what FAS is, the underlying neuroscience of FAS, and the challenges patients face relating to stigma. These objectives are assessed via role-play exercise with direct observation. As with all sessions in the Neuroscience in the Media module, additional learning objectives include that the learner will: appreciate the relevance of neuroscience to the future of psychiatry; be able to serve as an ambassador of neuroscience and psychiatry (by demonstrating the ability to critique media coverage of our field); and have fun learning about neuroscience!
Author Affiliations: Dr. Cooper is from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. Dr. Yarnell is from the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. David Ross, MD, PhD and Ashley Walker, MD, are the Contributing Editors for this publication. The National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative is a collaborative effort with AADPRT and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Council on Medical Education and Lifelong Learning and receives support from the NIH (R25 MH10107602S1) ©National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative.