Acoustic Measures of Voice and Physiologic Measures of Autonomic Arousal During Speech as a Function of Cognitive Load in Older Adults.
Defne Abur, Megan K MacPherson, Adrianna C Shembel and 1 others
PMID 33509665WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy older adults showed more autonomic arousal while speaking under higher cognitive load, but their voice acoustic measures did not clearly change.
Do not assume cognitive strain is audible in older voices from this small study.
Key findings
01Higher cognitive load during speech was associated with autonomic arousal signs in older adults.
02Voice acoustic measures did not significantly predict cognitive load condition.
03The model fit was poor, so the study cannot establish a strong predictive relationship.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was small. Participants were healthy older adults, not people with voice disorders. Respiratory and laryngeal physiology were not measured. Self-reported cognitive load and arousal were not measured. No statistical comparisons with younger adults were performed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cognitive load changes older adults' voice quality. The acoustic voice measures were not significant predictors, and the small sample and poor model fit mean the study cannot support a clinical voice change.