Sensorimotor learning during synchronous speech is modulated by the acoustics of the other voice.

This study tested the hypothesis that speaking with other voices can influence sensorimotor predictions of one's own voice. Real-time manipulations of auditory feedback were used to drive sensorimotor adaptation in speech, while participants spoke sentences in synchrony with another voice, a task known to induce implicit imitation (phonetic convergence). The acoustic-phonetic properties of the other voice were manipulated between groups, such that convergence with it would either oppose (incongruent group, n = 15) or align with (congruent group, n = 16) speech motor adaptation.

Self-ownership, not self-production, modulates bias and agency over a synthesised voice.

Voices are fundamentally social stimuli, and their importance to the self may be underpinned by how far they can be used to express the self and achieve communicative goals. This paper examines how self-bias and agency over a synthesised voice is altered when that voice is used to represent the self in social interaction. To enable participants to use a new voice, a novel two-player game was created, in which participants communicated online using a text-to-speech (TTS) synthesised voice.

Longitudinal changes in the cystic fibrosis airway microbiota with time and treatment.

Background: Whether there is any benefit in integrating culture-independent molecular analysis of the lower airway microbiota of people with cystic fibrosis into clinical care is unclear. This study determined the longitudinal trajectory of the microbiota and if there were microbiota characteristics that corresponded with response to treatment or predicted a future pulmonary exacerbation.

Methods: At least one sputum sample was collected from 149 participants enrolled in this prospective longitudinal multi-centre study and total bacterial density and microbiota community measurements were determined and compared with clinical parameters.

Speech With Pauses Sounds Deceptive to Listeners With and Without Hearing Impairment.

Purpose: Communication is as much persuasion as it is the transfer of information. This creates a tension between the interests of the speaker and those of the listener, as dishonest speakers naturally attempt to hide deceptive speech and listeners are faced with the challenge of sorting truths from lies. Listeners with hearing impairment in particular may have differing levels of access to the acoustical cues that give away deceptive speech.

Speech motor adaptation during synchronous and metronome-timed speech.

Sensorimotor integration during speech has been investigated by altering the sound of a speaker's voice in real time; in response, the speaker learns to change their production of speech sounds in order to compensate (adaptation). This line of research has however been predominantly limited to very simple speaking contexts, typically involving (a) repetitive production of single words and (b) production of speech while alone, without the usual exposure to other voices. This study investigated adaptation to a real-time perturbation of the first and second formants during production of sentences either in synchrony with a prerecorded voice (synchronous speech group) or alone (solo speech group).