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OBJECTIVE: To verify if the teacher's vocal quality can influence the student's cognition. METHODS: The present study is a scoping review performed to answer the research question: Can the teacher's vocal quality influence the student's learning and cognition?. To verify if the teacher's vocal quality can influence the student's cognition. The electronic search was performed in PubMed, Lilacs, SciELO, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and databases, in addition to a manual search in citation and gray literature. Two independent authors performed selection and extraction. Data were extracted about the study design: the sample, the cognitive tests used, the assessed cognitive skills, the type of altered voice (real or simulated), the assessment of the vocal quality, alone or associated with environmental noise, and the main outcomes evaluated. RESULTS: The initial research identified 476 articles, and 13 were selected for analysis. Seven (54%) studies evaluated the impact of altered voices in an isolated way on cognitive abilities. From these, they verified that the altered voices could negatively influence children's cognitive performance. Other 6 studies (46%) associated altered voices with competitive noise in their analysis, and 4 concluded that competitive noise rather than altered voices influenced students' cognitive performance. CONCLUSION: The altered voice seems to affect the cognitive tasks involved in the learning process. The competitive noise associated with the presentation of deviant voices had a stronger influence on cognitive performance than altered voice alone, demonstrating that cognitive performance is sensitive to the stages of information acquisition (input of acoustic signals).
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OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of phonation in a glass tube immersed in water compared to other interventions on general degree of vocal deviation, fundamental frequency, sound pressure level, and vocal self-assessment in vocally healthy individuals. METHODS: This is a systematic review and meta-analysis developed from the research question: "In vocally healthy individuals, what is the effect of phonation into a glass tube immersed in water versus other vocal interventions, other activities, or no intervention on general degree of vocal deviation, fundamental frequency, sound pressure level, and vocal self-assessment?" An electronic search was performed using Medline, LILACS, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and SCOPUS databases, and a manual search was performed in the gray literature (Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations and OpenGrey), the Journal of Voice, and the citations of the studies. Studies with (P) population of adults with healthy voices, (I) intervention with phonation into a glass tube immersed in water, (C) comparison with other vocal interventions, other activities, or no intervention, (O) outcomes of the general degree of vocal deviation, fundamental frequency, sound pressure level, and vocal self-assessment, and an (S) study with the experimental or quasi-experimental design were included. Risk of bias assessment and meta-analysis of the outcomes were performed. RESULTS: A total of 457 studies were found in the search; four were selected for the systematic review and meta-analysis. In the risk of bias assessment, there was an uncertain risk of selection and performance bias in 100% of the studies and uncertain risk of detection bias of 75%. All studies had an experimental design, and most of them were conducted on women. In the fundamental frequency analysis, there was no difference between the effect sizes of the interventions (z = 0.471, P = 0.638). In the vocal self-assessment, the estimated odds ratio was 1.31, showing a greater chance of improvement in the intervention group than with the comparison group (z = 3.45, P < 0.001). There were not enough studies to analyze the general degree of vocal deviation and sound pressure level outcomes. CONCLUSION: Phonation into a glass tube immersed in water has a greater positive effect on vocal self-assessment than other interventions in vocally healthy individuals.
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OBJECTIVE: To analyze the vocal self-perception of individuals who wore face masks for essential activities and those who wore them for professional and essential activities during the coronavirus disease pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. The study included 468 individuals who were stratified into two groups: the Working Group, comprising individuals who wore face masks for professional and essential activities during the pandemic; and the Essential Activities Group, with individuals who wore face masks only for essential activities during the pandemic. The outcome measures tested were self-perception of vocal fatigue, vocal tract discomfort, vocal effort, speech intelligibility, auditory feedback, and coordination between speech and breathing. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. RESULTS: Face masks increased the perception of vocal effort, difficulty in speech intelligibility, auditory feedback, and difficulty in coordinating speech and breathing, irrespective of usage. Individuals who wore face masks for professional and essential activities had a greater perception of symptoms of vocal fatigue and discomfort, vocal effort, difficulties in speech intelligibility, and in coordinating speech and breathing. CONCLUSION: Use of face masks increases the perception of vocal symptoms and discomfort, especially in individuals who wore it for professional and essential activities.