Production of Nonverbal Acoustic Signals and Resulting Physiological Responses

Recruiting

• Conditions: Self-Perception
• Interventions: Behavioral: Production of vocal sounds

• Registration Number: NCT05238285
• Lead Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne

Brief Summary

Like many other animals, humans produce nonverbal vocal signals including screams, grunts, roars, cries and laughter across a variety of contexts. However, despite their importance in the human vocal repertoire, the mechanisms and functions of non-verbal signals remain little studied and poorly understood in humans.Our studies aim to improve our understanding of the nature and function of non-verbal signals.

Detailed Description

Like many other animals, humans produce nonverbal vocal signals including screams, grunts, roars, cries and laughter across a variety of contexts. Many of these signals (such as cries) are already produced at birth and likely serve a number of important biological and social functions. In addition, human speech is characterised by nonlinguistic acoustic parameters (such as pitch, formant frequencies, and nonlinear phenomena) that are known to correlate with biologically important traits of the vocalizer.

However, despite their importance in the human vocal repertoire, the mechanisms and functions of non-verbal signals remain little studied and poorly understood in humans.

Theses studies aim to improve the understanding of the nature and function of non-verbal signals. Thus, this study is part of a long-term research project in which investigators are trying to clarify the information contained in the acoustic structure of human non-verbal signals, and to investigate the factors influencing their production.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2022-02-02
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-02-11
• Study First Posted: 2022-02-14
• Study Start: 2023-03-08
• Status Verified: 2025-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-17
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-18
• Primary Completion: 2027-04
• Study Completion: 2027-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 2000

Inclusion Criteria

• Participant should be affiliated or entitled to a social security scheme

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnant women
• Voice production disorders
• Hearing impairment, speech production disorders or major health problems.
• Chronic smoker (more than 10 cigarettes per day)

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Healthy adult population aged 18 to 80 years	Production of vocal sounds	Participants will be asked to produce vocal sounds of different nature according to the non-verbal parameters of interest for the given study.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Vocal analysis	During the vocal production	Participants will receive instructions on what to say or what type of non-verbal vocalisation to produce during the manipulation.; The vocalisations thus produced by the participants will be systematically recorded and analysed using software adapted to acoustic analysis; Measurement of acoustic variables such as fundamental frequency (pitch), vocal tract resonances (formants) and vocal disturbances (jitter, shimmer), the nonlinearities and chaotic/noise properties of vocalisations

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Skin conductance (Siemens)	During the vocal production
Heart rate (bpm)	During the vocal production
Skin temperature (°C)	During the vocal production
Nociception Level Index (NOL)	During the vocal production	A non-invasive finger probe, containing four sensors, will be placed on the on the index finger of the participants.
Pupillary diameter (millimeter)	During the vocal production	Using a high resolution binocular for automated pupil diameter measurement with an infrared camera

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Etienne; 🇫🇷 Saint-Étienne, France