Open Access
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2023; 27(02): e203-e210
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1761167
Original Research

The Effects of Monaural Stimulation on Frequency-Following Responses in Adults Who Can Sing in Tune and Those Who Cannot

Milaine Dominici Sanfins 
1   Department of Audiology, Albert Einstein Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2   Department of Electrophysiology, Centro de Estudos da Voz (CEV), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
,
Ingrid Gielow 
3   Department of Hearing, Centro de Estudos da Voz (CEV), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
,
Glaucya Madazio 
4   Department of Voice, Centro de Estudos da Voz (CEV), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
,
Francine Honorio
4   Department of Voice, Centro de Estudos da Voz (CEV), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
,
Tatiana Bordin 
5   Department of Estatistical, Instituto de pesquisa Eldorado, Campinas, SP, Brazil
,
Piotr Henryk Skarzynski 
6   Department of Hearing, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland
7   Department of Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation, Univeristy of Warsaw, Poland
8   Department of Otolaryngology, Institute of Sensory Organs, Warsaw, Poland
,
Magdalena Beata Skarzynska 
8   Department of Otolaryngology, Institute of Sensory Organs, Warsaw, Poland
9   Department of Hearing, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, World Hearing Center, Kajetany, Poland
10   Department of Hearing, Center of Hearing and Speech, Kajetany, Poland
,
Mara Behlau 
4   Department of Voice, Centro de Estudos da Voz (CEV), São Paulo, SP, Brazil
11   Department of Voice, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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Abstract

Introduction Musicians have an advantage over non-musicians in detecting, perceiving, and processing nonverbal (i.e., environmental sounds, tones and others) and verbal sounds (i.e., consonant, vowel, phrases and others) as well as instrumental sounds. In contrast to the high skill of musicians, there is another group of people who are tone-deaf and have difficulty in distinguishing musical sounds or singing in tune. These sounds can originate in different ways, such as a musical instrument, orchestra, or the human voice.

Objective The objective of the present work is to study frequency-following responses (FFRs) in individuals who can sing in-tune and those who sing off-tune.

Methods Electrophysiological responses were recorded in 37 individuals divided in two groups: (i) control group (CG) with professional musicians, and (ii) experimental group (EG) with non-musicians.

Results There was homogeneity between the two groups regarding age and gender. The CG had more homogeneous responses in the latency of the FFRs waves when responses between the right and left ears were compared to those of the EG.

Conclusion This study showed that monaural stimulation (right or left) in an FFR test is useful for demonstrating impairment of speech perception in individuals who sing off tune. The response of the left ear appears to present more subtlety and reliability when identifying the coding of speech sound in individuals who sing off tune.

Keywords

hearing - voice - auditory evoked potential - speech perception


Publication History

Received: 03 December 2020

Accepted: 20 May 2021

Article published online:
08 February 2023

© 2023. Fundação Otorrinolaringologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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