When we speak and sing, our voice is controlled in many different ways. Volitional and automatic control systems act upon respiratory, laryngeal, and articulatory structures to produce and shape the sounds we hear as phonation. Some aspects of the voice are controlled in a predictive, feed-forward manner. Others involve sensory feedback loops that make sure we've produced the vocal sounds we intended to produce. Auditory feedback is of particular importance in this regard. These different manners of control work in conjunction with one another to help us adapt to new physical conditions as they arise yet still maintain accuracy during very rapid vocal manipulations.

Central integration of voice and sound

The systems of the brain that enable humans to precisely control the voice are not yet fully understood. The aim of this research is to better understand how the central nervous system controls the voice, especially with regard to hearing. To understand the brain systems that underlie different types of voice F0 responses, we are using fMRI to investigate the systems of the brain associated with the pitch-shift reflex, and to examine the BOLD activity of individuals who respond differently to the same auditory feedback pitch shift stimulus.

Conceptual model of audiovocal integration for voice F0 control

A conceptual model is under development to summarize current knowledge about the pitch-shift reflex and to predict future findings. This conceptual model drives our research program and allows hypotheses to be tested in a systematic way.

Identification of the pitch-shift reflex in individual vocalizations

A template of the typical pitch-shift reflex is under development for use as a tool for separating individual vocalization trials that feature a pitch-shift reflex from those that do not. In this way, it will be possible to examine the incidence of the pitch-shift reflex across conditions as well as to improve the power of neuroimaging studies examining the neural underpinnings of the pitch-shift reflex.

NINDS Career Transition Award (K22) #NS046458: "Central Integration of Voice and Sound", $750,000, 2003 to 2010.

Burnett TA, Marks BS (in preparation). Identifying the pitch-shift reflex in individual vocalization trials. Oral presentation at the International Conference on Voice Physiology and Biomechanics in Madison WI July 2010.

Nagao K, Burnett TA, Egenolf K (in preparation). Age effects on “volitional” and reflexive voice fundamental frequency control. Poster presentation at Acoustics '08 in Paris, France July 2008.

Burnett TA, Nagao K, Bargatze D (in preparation). Continuous vs. sparse scanning paradigms for imaging vocalization-related BOLD activity. Poster presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping in Chicago IL June 2007.

Burnett TA (in preparation). Separating the effects of pitch error magnitude and direction discriminability on voice F0 control.

Burnett TA, Egenolf, K. (under revision). Intra-subject and inter-subject variability of voice fundamental frequency responses to auditory feedback pitch shifts during sustained phonation. Oral presentation at the Conference on Motor Speech in Savannah GA March 2010

Burnett TA, McCurdy KE, Bright J (2008). Reflexive and volitional voice fundamental frequency (F0) responses to an anticipated feedback pitch error. Exp Brain Res. 191(3):341-51.

Burnett TA, Larson CR (2002).Early pitch-shift response is active in both steady and dynamic voice pitch control. J Acoust Soc Am. 112 (3 Pt 1):1058-63.

Hain TC, Burnett TA. Larson CR, Kiran S (2001). Effects of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) on the pitch-shift reflex. J Acoust Soc Am. 109(5 Pt 1):2146-52.

Larson CR, Burnett TA, Bauer JJ, Kiran S, Hain TC (2001). Comparison of voice F0 responses to pitch-shift onset and offset conditions. J Acoust Soc Am. 110(6):2845-8.

Larson CR, Burnett TA, Kiran S, Hain TC (2000). Effects of pitch-shift velocity on voice F0 responses. J Acoust Soc Am. 107(1):559-64.

Hain TC, Burnett TA, Kiran S, Larson CR, Singh S, Kenney MK (2000). Instructing subjects to make a voluntary response reveals the presence of two components to the audio-vocal reflex. Exp Brain Research, 130(2): 133-141.

Burnett TA, Freedland MB, Larson CR, Hain TC (1998). Voice F0 responses to manipulations in pitch feedback. J Acoust Soc Am. 103 (6):3153-61.

Burnett TA, Senner JE, Larson CR. (1997). Voice F0 responses to pitch-shifted auditory feedback: a preliminary study. J Voice, 11(2):202-11.