Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate
When exposed to enhanced background noise, humans avoid signal masking by increasing the amplitude of the voice, a phenomenon termed the Lombard effect. This auditory feedback-mediated voice control has also been found in monkeys, bats, cetaceans, fish and some frogs and birds. We studied the Lombar...
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doaj-60cb5c4c5112419f909f8f4299def0812020-11-24T22:40:35ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-08-014e232810.7717/peerj.2328Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primateChristian Schopf0Sabine Schmidt1Elke Zimmermann2Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Foundation, Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Foundation, Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Foundation, Hannover, GermanyWhen exposed to enhanced background noise, humans avoid signal masking by increasing the amplitude of the voice, a phenomenon termed the Lombard effect. This auditory feedback-mediated voice control has also been found in monkeys, bats, cetaceans, fish and some frogs and birds. We studied the Lombard effect for the first time in a phylogenetically basal primate, the grey mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus. When background noise was increased, mouse lemurs were able to raise the amplitude of the voice, comparable to monkeys, but they did not show this effect consistently across context/individuals. The Lombard effect, even if representing a generic vocal communication system property of mammals, may thus be affected by more complex mechanisms. The present findings emphasize an effect of context, and individual, and the need for further standardized approaches to disentangle the multiple system properties of mammalian vocal communication, important for understanding the evolution of the unique human faculty of speech and language.https://peerj.com/articles/2328.pdfLombard effectAcoustic communicationVocalizationVoice controlPrimateMammal |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Christian Schopf Sabine Schmidt Elke Zimmermann |
spellingShingle |
Christian Schopf Sabine Schmidt Elke Zimmermann Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate PeerJ Lombard effect Acoustic communication Vocalization Voice control Primate Mammal |
author_facet |
Christian Schopf Sabine Schmidt Elke Zimmermann |
author_sort |
Christian Schopf |
title |
Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate |
title_short |
Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate |
title_full |
Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate |
title_fullStr |
Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate |
title_full_unstemmed |
Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate |
title_sort |
moderate evidence for a lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
series |
PeerJ |
issn |
2167-8359 |
publishDate |
2016-08-01 |
description |
When exposed to enhanced background noise, humans avoid signal masking by increasing the amplitude of the voice, a phenomenon termed the Lombard effect. This auditory feedback-mediated voice control has also been found in monkeys, bats, cetaceans, fish and some frogs and birds. We studied the Lombard effect for the first time in a phylogenetically basal primate, the grey mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus. When background noise was increased, mouse lemurs were able to raise the amplitude of the voice, comparable to monkeys, but they did not show this effect consistently across context/individuals. The Lombard effect, even if representing a generic vocal communication system property of mammals, may thus be affected by more complex mechanisms. The present findings emphasize an effect of context, and individual, and the need for further standardized approaches to disentangle the multiple system properties of mammalian vocal communication, important for understanding the evolution of the unique human faculty of speech and language. |
topic |
Lombard effect Acoustic communication Vocalization Voice control Primate Mammal |
url |
https://peerj.com/articles/2328.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT christianschopf moderateevidenceforalombardeffectinaphylogeneticallybasalprimate AT sabineschmidt moderateevidenceforalombardeffectinaphylogeneticallybasalprimate AT elkezimmermann moderateevidenceforalombardeffectinaphylogeneticallybasalprimate |
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