Vocals characteristics in individuals after traumatic brain injuries

Abstract

The objective of this study was to characterize the vocal aspects of 12 subjects of the male gender with traumatic brain injury. Recordings were made of the voices and a perceptive-auditory analysis was conducted. The results showed a greater occurrence of breathy voice, creaky voice and hoarseness in the sustained vowel /a/, in emission quality the use of reserve air and fluctuations was observed, whereas the other aspects were adequate for the majority of subjects. The literature is lacking in what is referred to as vocal alterations in post traumatic brain injury subjects, and together with the results found in the present study, this suggests a yet to be investigated field for speech pathology for a better understanding and treatment approach for said subjects.