Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates

Previous research suggests that nonhuman primates have limited flexibility in the frequency content of their vocalizations, particularly when compared to human speech. Consistent with this notion, several nonhuman primate species have demonstrated noise-induced changes in call amplitude and duration...

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Main Authors:	Hotchkin, Cara F., Parks, Susan E., Weiss, Daniel J.
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Public Library of Science 2015
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4479599/

id	pubmed-4479599
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-44795992015-06-29 Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates Hotchkin, Cara F. Parks, Susan E. Weiss, Daniel J. Research Article Previous research suggests that nonhuman primates have limited flexibility in the frequency content of their vocalizations, particularly when compared to human speech. Consistent with this notion, several nonhuman primate species have demonstrated noise-induced changes in call amplitude and duration, with no evidence of changes to spectral content. This experiment used broad- and narrow-band noise playbacks to investigate the vocal control of two call types produced by cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus Oedipus). In ‘combination long calls’ (CLCs), peak fundamental frequency and the distribution of energy between low and high frequency harmonics (spectral tilt) changed in response to increased noise amplitude and bandwidth. In chirps, peak and maximum components of the fundamental frequency increased with increasing noise level, with no changes to spectral tilt. Other modifications included the Lombard effect and increases in chirp duration. These results provide the first evidence for noise-induced frequency changes in nonhuman primate vocalizations and suggest that future investigations of vocal plasticity in primates should include spectral parameters. Public Library of Science 2015-06-24 /pmc/articles/PMC4479599/ /pubmed/26107515 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0130211 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration, which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Hotchkin, Cara F. Parks, Susan E. Weiss, Daniel J.
spellingShingle	Hotchkin, Cara F. Parks, Susan E. Weiss, Daniel J. Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates
author_facet	Hotchkin, Cara F. Parks, Susan E. Weiss, Daniel J.
author_sort	Hotchkin, Cara F.
title	Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates
title_short	Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates
title_full	Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates
title_fullStr	Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates
title_full_unstemmed	Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates
title_sort	noise-induced frequency modifications of tamarin vocalizations: implications for noise compensation in nonhuman primates
description	Previous research suggests that nonhuman primates have limited flexibility in the frequency content of their vocalizations, particularly when compared to human speech. Consistent with this notion, several nonhuman primate species have demonstrated noise-induced changes in call amplitude and duration, with no evidence of changes to spectral content. This experiment used broad- and narrow-band noise playbacks to investigate the vocal control of two call types produced by cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus Oedipus). In ‘combination long calls’ (CLCs), peak fundamental frequency and the distribution of energy between low and high frequency harmonics (spectral tilt) changed in response to increased noise amplitude and bandwidth. In chirps, peak and maximum components of the fundamental frequency increased with increasing noise level, with no changes to spectral tilt. Other modifications included the Lombard effect and increases in chirp duration. These results provide the first evidence for noise-induced frequency changes in nonhuman primate vocalizations and suggest that future investigations of vocal plasticity in primates should include spectral parameters.
publisher	Public Library of Science
publishDate	2015
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4479599/
_version_	1613239803289010176

Noise-Induced Frequency Modifications of Tamarin Vocalizations: Implications for Noise Compensation in Nonhuman Primates

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