Voicing duration and vocal SPL changes associated with stuttering reduction during singing

Area of Science:

• Speech and Hearing Sciences
• Linguistics
• Acoustic Phonetics

Background:

• Stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by disfluencies.
• Singing is anecdotally reported to reduce stuttering frequency.
• The acoustic correlates of this fluency enhancement are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if stuttering reduction during singing correlates with changes in voicing duration and vocal sound pressure level (SPL).
• To compare acoustic patterns during reading versus singing in individuals who stutter and typical speakers.

Main Methods:

• Eight moderate to severe stutterers and eight matched typical speakers participated.
• Subjects read aloud and sang altered lyrics to a familiar melody.
• Vocalizations were analyzed for disfluency frequency, voicing duration, and vocal SPL.

Main Results:

• Singing significantly decreased disfluency frequency in stutterers compared to reading.
• Both groups increased voicing duration when singing.
• Only typical speakers showed a significant increase in vocal SPL during singing.

Conclusions:

• Stuttering reduction during singing is associated with increased voicing duration, not vocal SPL.
• Altered vocalization patterns during singing may contribute to enhanced fluency in stutterers.
• Findings suggest vocal tract dynamics play a role in singing-induced fluency.