And now for some good news ... a stroke has cured an elderly man of his lifelong stutter, according to doctors in Japan. The finding might help pinpoint the circuit that goes awry in the brains of people with this speech

impediment.Neurologist Akiko Muroi of Fukushima Medical University and her colleagues treated a 66-year-old man who arrived at the hospital in a deep coma. When he came to a few days later, his family was astonished to find that his speech was completely fluent after a lifetime of stammering. His personality also changed from taciturn and serious to cheerful and almost childlike - much to his wife’s satisfaction. “He has been rejuvenated completely,” she told Muroi.Brain scans revealed that the stroke had blocked a single artery in the thalamus region of the brain. Sometimes strokes make people start to stutter, but this is the first time a stroke has been know to eradicate the

problem.