Acoustic Measures of Voice and Physiologic Measures of Autonomic Arousal during Speech as a Function of Cognitive Load.
Megan K MacPherson, Defne Abur, Cara E Stepp
PMID 27939119WHAT IT FOUND
When healthy speakers named colour words that conflicted with their font colour, sweat-gland activity increased and voice quality measures changed slightly.
Pitch and sound level did not change, and the overall pattern was weak.
Key findings
01Skin conductance response amplitude was higher during the demanding colour-naming condition and significantly predicted the cognitive load condition.
02Cepstral peak prominence was higher and the low-to-high spectral energy ratio was lower during the demanding colour-naming condition, and both significantly predicted the cognitive load condition.
03Fundamental frequency and sound pressure level showed no notable difference between conditions, and the overall logistic model provided a poor fit.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 16 healthy young adults with typical voices, so it does not show what happens in people with voice disorders or in older adults. The task was a controlled laboratory colour-naming task, and the paper says it is unclear how the task transfers to daily life. Voice production was measured only acoustically, without laryngeal physiologic measures, so the meaning of the voice-quality changes is uncertain. The changes in acoustic measures were small, and the paper states their clinical significance is unknown. The overall statistical model explained little of the variation, despite some measures being associated with condition.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cognitive load causes clinically important voice changes in patients. The study used healthy young adults with typical voices, the changes were small, and the overall model explained little of the variation.