Psychometric, acoustic, and neurocognitive investigation of identity and phonotrauma
Date
2023
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to explore how social identity orientation might relate with discrete voice changes in individuals with suspected phonotrauma (hereafter “phonotrauma”) and two comparison groups, (1) vocally healthy non-performers and (2) vocally healthy performers, in partial replication and expansion of an fMRI study by Brown, Cockett, and Yuan (2019). The current study gathered data via questionnaires, acoustic voice recordings, and fMRI to triangulate potential effects of identity on voice. In response to questions, participants improvised statements using four different identity conditions: self with habitual point of view, resonant voice with habitual point of view, British accent with habitual point of view, and Romeo/Juliet. The phonotrauma group alone had a significant relationship between greater personal identity orientation and greater variation in mean CPP (dB), indicating that they had a unique relationship between identity and voice behavior. fMRI analysis of this group also indicated that, more than performers, they activated the precuneus – a cortical region associated with playacting – while they were using their habitual (dysphonic) voices. Together, this evidence suggests that the individuals with phonotrauma had a unique and multifaceted relationship between identity and voice production. Clinical implications include potentially tailoring rehabilitation goals to a patient’s identity-centric voice needs.
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Keywords
Cognition, Identity, Personality, Phonotrauma, Voice therapy