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

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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
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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.

Official Title
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Perception of Nonverbal Acoustic Signals and Resulting Physiological Responses SINOVE-PER

Conditions
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Self Perception

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Psycho-acoustic tests


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 80 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Healthy adult population aged 18 to 80 years<br>After listening to acoustic stimuli, participants will be asked to judge these stimuli on relevant evaluation criteria (e.g., how distressed does this person sound?). | Behavioral: Psycho-acoustic tests<br>* Listeners' cognitive and biological responses to vocal stimuli will be tested using psycho-acoustic tests. After listening to acoustic stimuli, participants will be asked to judge these stimuli on relevant evaluation criteria (e.g., how distressed does this person sound?). These stimuli might be human voices, animal voices or synthetic voices Physiological measures will be simultaneously taken using an array of complimentary, non-invasive techniques such as the Nociception Level (NOL) Index or video pupillometry<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Proportion of correct responses in a forced-choice task after 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 | Immediately after the vocal stimuli | 
| Numerical values of judgements along a scale | 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. | Immediately after the vocal stimuli | 
| Response time (second) | 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 | Immediately after the vocal stimuli | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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) | A non-invasive finger probe, containing four sensors, will be placed on the on the index finger of the participants. | During the vocal stimuli | 
| Pupillary diameter (millimeter) | Using a high resolution binocular for automated pupil diameter measurement with an infrared camera | During the vocal stimuli | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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nonverbal signals of the vocalizer, nonlinguistic acoustic parameters, physiological responses, perceptual responses, behavioural responses