Production of Nonverbal Acoustic Signals and Resulting Physiological Responses (SINOVE-PRO)

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.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Self-Perception
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Production of vocal sounds

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 Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 2000

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: ROLAND PEYRON, MDPhD; Phone Number: +33 (0)477127805; Email: roland.peyron@chu-st-etienne.fr
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Nicolas MATHEVON, PhD; Phone Number: +33 04 77 48 50 22; Email: nicolas.mathevon@univ-st-etienne.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Saint-Etienne, France, 42055
    • Recruiting
    • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint-Étienne
    • Principal Investigator: Roland PEYRON, MD PHD
    • Sub-Investigator: David REBY, MDPHD
    • Sub-Investigator: Nicolas MATHEVON, MDPHD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy adult population aged 18 to 80 years

Description

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 Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

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

Behavioral: 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. For example, they can read a script containing vowels ('a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'), short sentences ('hello, how are you'), longer passages of standardised reading texts, and can also be asked to speak freely about any topic ('freedom of speech'). They can be asked to play a role or to imitate a particular emotional state. For example, "imagine that you have just been told that you have won a million euros in the lottery. Produce a vocalisation to express your excitement" or "talk to your dog your dog by imagining that he has done a negative action and then do the same thing by imagining that this time imagining that the action was positive".

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vocal analysis	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	During the vocal production

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Heart rate (bpm)		During the vocal production
Skin conductance (Siemens)		During the vocal production
Skin temperature (°C)		During the vocal production
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 production
Pupillary diameter (millimeter)	Using a high resolution binocular for automated pupil diameter measurement with an infrared camera	During the vocal production

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne
• Collaborators: University of Lyon
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: ROLAND PEYRON, MDPHD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne; Study Director: Nicolas MATHEVON, PhD, University of Saint-Etienne, France

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 8, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 2, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 11, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): February 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 6, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 5, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physiological responses; acoustic analysis; psycho-acoustic tests
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20CH259; 2020-A03457-32: (Other Identifier: ANSM)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No