Investigating Cognitive Load and Autonomic Arousal During Voice Production and Vocal Auditory-Motor Adaptation

Area of Science:

• Speech production
• Vocal motor control
• Autonomic nervous system

Background:

• Cognitive load and autonomic arousal are thought to influence voice production, but their specific effects are not well understood.
• Understanding these relationships is key to interpreting voice changes under stress.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the distinct impacts of cognitive load and autonomic arousal on voice production.
• To examine how these factors influence vocal motor control and sensorimotor adaptation.

Main Methods:

• 30 adults completed a Stroop task to induce cognitive load, with physiological measures of autonomic arousal recorded.
• Experiment 1 measured voice acoustic features during speech.
• Experiment 2 assessed fundamental frequency (f₀) adaptation to altered auditory feedback.

Main Results:

• Higher cognitive load correlated with increased sound pressure level.
• Increased autonomic arousal related to decreased cepstral peak prominence and increased sensorimotor adaptation.
• Decreased f₀ under cognitive load predicted greater adaptation.

Conclusions:

• Cognitive load and autonomic arousal have differential effects on voice production and motor control.
• Individual physiological variability is important when assessing stress-related voice changes.