UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Singers show enhanced performance and neural representation of vocal imitation

Waters, S; Kanber, E; Lavan, N; Belyk, M; Carey, D; Cartei, V; Lally, C; ... McGettigan, C; + view all (2021) Singers show enhanced performance and neural representation of vocal imitation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 376 (1840) 10.1098/rstb.2020.0399. Green open access

[thumbnail of Waters_et_al_PTB_Revision_submitted_050721.pdf]
Preview
Text
Waters_et_al_PTB_Revision_submitted_050721.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (8MB) | Preview

Abstract

Humans have a remarkable capacity to finely control the muscles of the larynx, via distinct patterns of cortical topography and innervation that may underpin our sophisticated vocal capabilities compared with non-human primates. Here, we investigated the behavioural and neural correlates of laryngeal control, and their relationship to vocal expertise, using an imitation task that required adjustments of larynx musculature during speech. Highly trained human singers and non-singer control participants modulated voice pitch and vocal tract length (VTL) to mimic auditory speech targets, while undergoing real-time anatomical scans of the vocal tract and functional scans of brain activity. Multivariate analyses of speech acoustics, larynx movements and brain activation data were used to quantify vocal modulation behaviour and to search for neural representations of the two modulated vocal parameters during the preparation and execution of speech. We found that singers showed more accurate task-relevant modulations of speech pitch and VTL (i.e. larynx height, as measured with vocal tract MRI) during speech imitation; this was accompanied by stronger representation of VTL within a region of the right somatosensory cortex. Our findings suggest a common neural basis for enhanced vocal control in speech and song. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part I)’.

Type: Article
Title: Singers show enhanced performance and neural representation of vocal imitation
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0399
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0399
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10137441
Downloads since deposit
68Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item