They were good at this, finding a cheat in about two-thirds of cases regardless of where the listener was from or what the false accent was. Interestingly, this varied across regions: people from ...

A British woman claims a stroke left her with an Italian accent and the ability to speak the language, despite never having set foot in Italy. Althia Bryden, 58, was found unresponsive in bed by ...

However, the medical staff also noticed something strange about her voice. "They asked me if I had an Italian accent before my stroke and were telling me I had a strong accent," she says.