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Perception of Nonverbal Acoustic Signals and Resulting Physiological Responses (SINOVE-PER)

Recruiting
Conditions
Self Perception
Interventions
Behavioral: Psycho-acoustic tests
Registration Number
NCT05252312
Lead Sponsor
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
Brief Summary

Like many other animals, humans produce nonverbal signals including screams, grunts, roars, cries and laughter across a variety of contexts.Due to their acoustic structure, nonverbal vocalizations and valanced speech (e.g., yelling) are also likely to elicit predictable physiological, perceptual or behavioural responses in the receiver of the signal (the listener). This is critical if researchers are to gain a comprehensive understanding of the broad range of mechanisms and the evolved functions of acoustic communication.

Therefore, in this research, investigators will examine specifically how exposure to vocal stimuli affects both the cognitive and biological responses of the listener.

Detailed Description

Like many other animals, humans produce nonverbal 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 are likely to serve a number of important biological and social functions. In addition, human speech is characterized by nonlinguistic acoustic parameters (such as pitch, formant frequencies, and nonlinear phenomena) that are known to correlate with biologically important traits of the vocalizer.

Due to their acoustic structure, nonverbal vocalizations and valanced speech (e.g., yelling) are also likely to elicit predictable physiological, perceptual or behavioural responses in the receiver of the signal (the listener).

However, while a number of playback studies have examined behavioural responses (e.g., ratings) of listeners when exposed to various voice stimuli, very few studies have examined whether such behavioural responses are accompanied by an underlying physiological response. This is critical if researchers are to gain a comprehensive understanding of the broad range of mechanisms and the evolved functions of acoustic communication.

Therefore, in this research, investigators will examine specifically how exposure to vocal stimuli affects both the cognitive and biological responses of the listener.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
2000
Inclusion Criteria
  • Participant should be affiliated or entitled to a social security scheme
Exclusion Criteria
  • Pregnancy
  • Hearing impairment, speech production disorders or major health problems.

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Healthy adult population aged 18 to 80 yearsPsycho-acoustic testsAfter listening to acoustic stimuli, participants will be asked to judge these stimuli on relevant evaluation criteria (e.g., "how distressed does this person sound?").
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Numerical values of judgements along a scaleImmediately after the vocal stimuli

Participants will be asked to judge vocal stimuli Example : participants may be asked to judge, along a gradient (from 0 to 100), "how consistent the distress of the baby you heard is to you".

Proportion of correct responses in a forced-choice task after vocal stimuliImmediately after the vocal stimuli

Participants will be asked to judge vocal stimuli Example : "Of the two baby cries you listened to, which one do you think shows the most distress"

Response time (second)Immediately after the vocal stimuli

Participants will be asked to judge vocal stimuli In this case, the participant is instructed to respond as soon as possible. The response time for each stimulus is then systematically measured

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Heart rate (bpm)During the vocal stimuli
Skin conductance (Siemens)During the vocal stimuli
Skin temperature (°C)During the vocal stimuli
Nociception Level Index (NOL)During the vocal stimuli

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 stimuli

Using a high resolution binocular for automated pupil diameter measurement with an infrared camera

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

CHU Saint-Etienne

🇫🇷

Saint-Étienne, France

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