National Center for Voice and Speech

The National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS), is a multi-site research and teaching organization dedicated to studying the characteristics, limitations and enhancement of human voice and speech. The NCVS is located in Salt Lake City, Utah with the Lead Institution located at the University of Utah. NCVS is also a Center at the University of Iowa where it has laboratories in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. In addition, the NCVS has collaborators in Denver and at many institutions around the United States. Its focus is vocology, or the science and practice of voice habilitation.^[1][2]

History

Initially conceived as a "center without walls," the NCVS was formally organized in 1990 with the assistance of a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NCVS was organized on the premise that a consortium of institutions (including the Wilber James Gould Voice Center at the DCPA, University of Iowa, University of Utah, University of Wisconsin–Madison) would be better able to conduct and disseminate research than a single organization. NCVS members, although geographically separate, were linked by a common desire to fully understand the characteristics, limitations and enhancement of human voice and speech.

In 1999, NIDCD discontinued the Multi-Purpose Research and Training Center funding mechanism for the entire institute focusing instead on single-project research awards (R01s). In a July 2000 meeting, however, NCVS investigators voted unanimously to continue the concept of a national resource center for voice and speech, to be driven by a variety of single-project research awards (R01s), as well as health communication, core, and training grants. In 2001, the NCVS moved its central location to Denver, where the otolaryngologist Dr. Wilbur James Gould had founded a center to study the voice and speech patterns of stage performers.

The NCVS team of investigators, led by Ingo Titze, studies the powers, limitations and enhancement of human voice and speech. The investigators are scientists, clinicians, educators, engineers and musicians who use diverse backgrounds (i.e., speech-language pathology, physics, computer science, acoustics, vocal performance, biology, medicine and engineering) to work together on voice and speech investigations. As a direct outgrowth of their work, NCVS members also teach other investigators and practitioners who work with voice, as well as speech clients and the general public. One example is the Summer Vocology Institute, which trains voice coaches and vocal health professionals in the study of Vocology.

Current Research and Some of Related Published Papers

Occupational Safety in Vocalization^{[3][4][5][6][7]}
Biomechanical Modeling^{[8][9][10][11]}
Simulation of Vocal Production for Research and Therapeutic Interventions
Computer Simulation of Phonosurgical Procedures^[12][13][14]
Voice Treatment for Adults Suffering from Parkinson’s Disease (including the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment, LSVT) ^{[15][16][17][18]}
Voice Treatment for Children with Down Syndrome (including LSVT)[1]
Voice Forensics & Speaker Identification
Laryngeal Tissue Engineering^[19][20][21]
Voice Academy (an online tool for teachers)[2]

See also

• Vocology
• Phonation
• Human Voice

External links

• National Center for Voice and Speech's official website
• NCVS YouTube Channel
• The Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at the University of Iowa's official website
• The Voice Academy's official website
• The NCVS's Summer Vocology Institute's official website

References

1. ^ van Mersbergen M et al. (2001). "Preparation of the speech-language pathologist specializing in voice: an educational survey.", J Voice. 15(2):237-50.
2. ^ Titze, I.R. (1994). Principles of Voice Production, Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0137178933.
3. ^ Titze IR et al. Populations in the U.S. workforce who rely on voice as a primary tool of trade: a preliminary report. J Voice. 1997 Sep;11(3):254-9. doi:10.1016/S0892-1997(97)80002-1 PMID 9297668
4. ^ Popolo PS et al. Adaptation of a Pocket PC for use as a wearable voice dosimeter. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2005 Aug;48(4):780-91. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2005/054) PMID 16378473
5. ^ Titze IR et al. Voicing and silence periods in daily and weekly vocalizations of teachers. J Acoust Soc Am. 2007 Jan;121(1):469-78. doi:10.1121/1.2390676 PMID 17297801
6. ^ Nix J et al. Protocol challenges for on-the-job voice dosimetry of teachers in the United States and Finland. J Voice. 2007 Jul;21(4):385-96. doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2006.03.005 PMID 16678386
7. ^ Carroll T et al. Objective measurement of vocal fatigue in classical singers: a vocal dosimetry pilot study. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2006 Oct;135(4):595-602. doi:10.1016/j.otohns.2006.06.1268 PMID 17011424.
8. ^ Hunter EJ and Titze IR. Refinements in modeling the passive properties of laryngeal soft tissue. J Appl Physiol. 2007 Jul;103(1):206-19. PMID 17412782.
9. ^ Titze IR and Hunter EJ. A two-dimensional biomechanical model of vocal fold posturing. J Acoust Soc Am. 2007 Apr;121(4):2254-60. PMID 17471739.
10. ^ Hunter EJ and Titze IR. Individual subject laryngeal dimensions of multiple mammalian species for biomechanical models. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2005 Oct;114(10):809-18. PMID 16285273.
11. ^ Hunter EJ et al. A three-dimensional model of vocal fold abduction/adduction. J Acoust Soc Am. 2004 Apr;115(4):1747-59. PMID 15101653.
12. ^ E. J. Hunter and I. R. Titze. Review of range of arytenoid cartilage motion. Acoustic Research Letters Online 6 (3):112-117, 2005. PMID 16570110.
13. ^ E. J. Hunter and I. R. Titze. Individual subject laryngeal dimensions of multiple mammalian species for biomechanical models. Ann.Otol.Rhinol.Laryngol. 114 (10):809-818, 2005. PMID 16285273.
14. ^ Hunter EJ, Alipour F, Titze IR. Sensitivity of elastic properties to measurement uncertainties in laryngeal muscles with implications for voice fundamental frequency prediction. J Voice. 2007 Nov;21(6):641-50. PMID 16904867.
15. ^ Spielman J et al. Effects of an extended version of the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment on voice and speech in Parkinson's disease. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2007 May;16(2):95-107. PMID 17456888.
16. ^ Sapir S et al. Effects of intensive voice treatment (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT]) on vowel articulation in dysarthric individuals with idiopathic Parkinson disease: acoustic and perceptual findings. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2007 Aug;50(4):899-912. PMID 17675595.
17. ^ Spielman JL et al. The effects of intensive voice treatment on facial expressiveness in Parkinson disease: preliminary data. Cogn Behav Neurol. 2003 Sep;16(3):177-88. PMID 14501539.
18. ^ Ramig LO et al. Intensive voice treatment (LSVT) for patients with Parkinson's disease: a 2 year follow up. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2001 Oct;71(4):493-8. PMID 11561033.
19. ^ Titze IR et al. Strain distribution in an elastic substrate vibrated in a bioreactor for vocal fold tissue engineering. J Biomech. 2005 Dec;38(12):2406-14. PMID 16214488.
20. ^ Titze IR et al. Design and validation of a bioreactor for engineering vocal fold tissues under combined tensile and vibrational stresses. J Biomech. 2004 Oct;37(10):1521-9. PMID 15336927.
21. ^ Titze IR and Hunter EJ. Normal vibration frequencies of the vocal ligament. J Acoust Soc Am. 2004 May;115(5 Pt 1):2264-9. PMID 15139637.