Interventions That Target or Affect Voice or Speech Production During Public Speaking: A Scoping Review.

Objectives: Public speaking (PS) is frequently necessary in many professional, educational, and personal settings. Mastering this communication skill is particularly important in today's society. Training techniques for PS have been described in the literature.

Effects of Noise and a Speaker's Impaired Voice Quality on Spoken Language Processing in School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Purpose: Background noise and voice problems among teachers can degrade listening conditions in classrooms. The aim of this literature review is to understand how these acoustic degradations affect spoken language processing in 6- to 18-year-old children.

Method: In a narrative report and meta-analysis, we systematically review studies that examined the effects of noise and/or impaired voice on children's response accuracy and response time (RT) in listening tasks.

Which teachers are most at risk for voice disorders? Individual factors predicting vocal acoustic parameters monitored in situ during a workweek.

Purpose: To identify the factors affecting teachers' vocal acoustic parameters, with the aim of detecting individuals at risk of phonotrauma.

Method: The voicing time, voice sound pressure level [SPL] and fundamental frequency [f] of 87 teachers were measured during one workweek using a voice dosimeter. We retrospectively investigated the impact of 10 factors (gender, age, teaching experience, teaching level, tobacco, gastro-esophageal problems, nonoccupational voice activity, voice education, past voice problems, and biopsychosocial impact of voice problems measured using the Voice Handicap Index [VHI]) on each voice parameter.

Can ambulatory biofeedback help a transgender woman speak at a higher pitch?

Voice feminization for transgender women remains a challenge. The fundamental frequency of the voice () is one of the main parameters contributing to the perception of gender. One of the aims of voice therapy is to help transgender women acquire a new vocal motor behavior to increase their .

Listening to a Dysphonic Speaker in Noise May Impede Children's Spoken Language Processing in a Realistic Classroom Setting.

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate children's processing of dysphonic speech in a realistic classroom setting, under the influence of added classroom noise. Method Typically developing 6-year-old primary school children performed two listening tasks in their regular classrooms: a phoneme discrimination task to assess speech perception and a sentence-picture matching task to assess listening comprehension. Speech stimuli were played back in either a typical or an impaired voice quality.

Noise and a Speaker's Impaired Voice Quality Disrupt Spoken Language Processing in School-Aged Children: Evidence From Performance and Response Time Measures.

Purpose Our aim was to investigate isolated and combined effects of speech-shaped noise (SSN) and a speaker's impaired voice quality on spoken language processing in first-grade children. Method In individual examinations, 53 typically developing children aged 5-6 years performed a speech perception task (phoneme discrimination) and a listening comprehension task (sentence-picture matching). Speech stimuli were randomly presented in a 2 × 2 factorial design with the factors (no added noise vs.

Imitating dysphonic voice: a suitable technique to create speech stimuli for spoken language processing tasks?

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of imitated dysphonic voice samples for their application in listening tasks investigating the impact of speakers' voice quality on spoken language processing.

Methods: A female voice expert recorded speech samples (sustained vowels and connected speech) in her normal voice and while imitating a dysphonic voice. Voice characteristics, authenticity, and consistency of the two voice qualities were evaluated by means of acoustic measurements (Acoustic Voice Quality Index [AVQI], jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio [HNR]) and perceptual evaluation (GRBAS scale, consistency, and authenticity rated by five speech-language pathologists).

Vocal characteristics of 5-year-old children: proposed normative values based on a French-speaking population.

: Previous research proposed normative data on gender- and age-specific voice acoustics for adults. Such reference values are lacking for children, particularly under the age of 6. This study was intended (1) to collect reliable normative data for the acoustic parameters of 5-year-old children's voices, and (2) to investigate potential gender-specific differences.

Voice Use Among Music Theory Teachers: A Voice Dosimetry and Self-Assessment Study.

Objectives: This study aimed (1) to investigate music theory teachers' professional and extra-professional vocal loading and background noise exposure, (2) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and background noise, and (3) to determine the correlation between vocal loading and self-evaluation data.

Methods: Using voice dosimetry, 13 music theory teachers were monitored for one workweek. The parameters analyzed were voice sound pressure level (SPL), fundamental frequency (F0), phonation time, vocal loading index (VLI), and noise SPL.

Vocal Change Patterns During a Teaching Day: Inter- and Intra-subject Variability.

Objectives: To describe the mean voice changes of 22 female teachers during a typical workday, examine the inter- and intra-subject variability, and establish a typology of different voice patterns during the workday.

Methods: For each participant, fundamental frequency (F0), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), jitter, and shimmer were measured on sustained vowels at the beginning and at the end of the workday, at three different times during the school year.

Results: The group mean pattern showed significant increases in F0 and HNR during the workday and significant decreases in jitter and shimmer.

Brain plasticity after implanted peroneal nerve electrical stimulation to improve gait in chronic stroke patients: Two case reports.

Background: Recent studies have shown that stimulation of the peroneal nerve using an implantable 4-channel peroneal nerve stimulator could improve gait in stroke patients.

Objectives: To assess structural cortical and regional cerebral metabolism changes associated with an implanted peroneal nerve electrical stimulator to correct foot drop related to a central nervous system lesion.

Methods: Two stroke patients presenting a foot drop related to a central nervous system lesion were implanted with an implanted peroneal nerve electrical stimulator.

Influence of a rhythmic auditory stimulation on asymptomatic gait.

The direct effects of a rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) on the gait of asymptomatic subjects are not clear. Previous studies only showed modifications in the gastrocnemius activity, inconsistent effects on temporal parameters, and no modification of spatial parameters. Furthermore, the influence of RAS on kinematics and kinetics has only been reported in pathological gait.

Description of patients consulting the voice clinic regarding gender, age, occupational status, and diagnosis.

The purpose of this paper was to describe the gender, age, occupational status, and diagnosis of dysphonic patients. We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 1079 patients examined at the Voice clinic of the University hospital of Liège in French-speaking Belgium. Overall, seven out of ten patients who attended the voice clinic for dysphonia were females.

Proposition of a Classification of Adult Patients with Hemiparesis in Chronic Phase.

Background: Patients who have developed hemiparesis as a result of a central nervous system lesion, often experience reduced walking capacity and worse gait quality. Although clinically, similar gait patterns have been observed, presently, no clinically driven classification has been validated to group these patients' gait abnormalities at the level of the hip, knee and ankle joints. This study has thus intended to put forward a new gait classification for adult patients with hemiparesis in chronic phase, and to validate its discriminatory capacity.

Impact of vocal load on breathiness: perceptual evaluation.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact on voice of 2 hours of continuous oral reading.

Methods: Fifty normophonic women underwent two sessions of voice loading in which the required intensity level varied: 60-65 dB(A) for the first session, and 70-75 dB(A) for the second session. Ten expert judges evaluated the breathiness of one sentence recorded before and after each loading session.

Comparison of vocal loading parameters in kindergarten and elementary school teachers.

PURPOSE Although a global picture exists of teachers' voice demands in general, few studies have compared specific groups of teachers to determine whether some are more at risk than others. This study compared the vocal loadings of kindergarten and elementary school teachers; professional and nonprofessional vocal load were determined for both groups. METHOD Twelve kindergarten and 20 elementary school female teachers without voice problems were monitored during 1 workweek using the Ambulatory Phonation Monitor.

Vocal impact of a prolonged reading task in dysphonic versus normophonic female teachers.

Objectives: This study evaluates the effect of a 2-hour reading task between 70 and 75 dB(A) in 16 normophonic and 16 dysphonic female teachers with vocal nodules.

Methods: Objective measurements (acoustic analysis, voice range measurements, and aerodynamic measurements) and subjective self-ratings were collected before and every 30 minutes during the reading to determine the voice evolution in both groups.

Results: Fundamental frequency, lowest frequency, highest frequency (F-High), highest intensity, and intensity range increase through the reading, whereas shimmer decreases.

Vocal impact of a prolonged reading task at two intensity levels: objective measurements and subjective self-ratings.

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to evaluate the impact on voice of both duration and intensity level of 2 hours of continuous oral reading. Voice modifications accompanying changes in intensity level during prolonged reading tasks are analyzed.

Methods: Fifty normophonic women undergo two sessions of voice loading in which the required intensity level of voice varied between 60-65 dB(A) for the first session and 70-75 dB(A) for the second session.

Implantation of esterified hyaluronic acid in microdissected Reinke's space after vocal fold microsurgery: short- and long-term results.

In this study are reported the laryngeal and vocal results obtained after a microflap excision of benign vocal fold (VF) lesions and immediate implantation of esterified hyaluronic acid (EHA) in the surgical wound. In a previous pilot study on 11 cases, we have shown an excellent tolerance of this bioimplant. The objectives are to confirm the innocuity of the technique, to demonstrate the laryngeal and vocal evolution at short and long term, and to evaluate the eventual positive impact of EHA implantation on the pliability of the superficial layer of the lamina propria (SLLP) and on voice.