Proposal - the neural basis of controlled voice change

1
Proposal - the neural basis of controlled voice
change

• Sophie Scott, Carolyn McGettigan, Frank Eisner,
  Duncan Wisbey, Tom Manly

2
Talking and the voice

• We all speak differently all the time
• What happens when we deliberately try to mimic
  another voice?
• Look at this effect in normal controls who are
  prepared to have a go and in professional voice
  artists
• This will also permit an investigation of
  expertise

3
Design

• 4 conditions
• Silence
• Speaking normally
• Speaking with an accent (e.g. tired Australian)
• Speaking as a specific person (e.g. Anthony
  Worrall Thompson)
• Each repeated 40 times
• Sparse scanning
• 16 normal controls, as many voice artists as
  possible, aim for 16

4
Motor control of speech
Yellow regions are left lateralised
Blank et al, Brain, 2002