Singing and Speaking Ability in Parkinson's Disease and Spinocerebellar Ataxia.

Purpose: This study examined spontaneous, spoken-to-a-model, and two sung modes in speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD), speakers with cerebellar disease (CD), and healthy controls. Vocal performance was measured by intelligibility scores and listeners' perceptual ratings.

Method: Participants included speakers with hypokinetic dysarthria secondary to PD, those with ataxic dysarthria secondary to CD, and healthy speakers.

Emotionally expressed voices are retained in memory following a single exposure.

Studies of voice recognition in biology suggest that long exposure may not satisfactorily represent the voice acquisition process. The current study proposes that humans can acquire a newly familiar voice from brief exposure to spontaneous speech, given a personally engaging context. Studies have shown that arousing and emotionally engaging experiences are more likely to be recorded and consolidated in memory.