Experience-Dependent Neural Responses to Vocal Vibrato in Opera Singers

Abstract Extensive research with musicians has shown that instrumental musical training can have a profound impact on how acoustic features are processed in the brain. However, less is known about the influence of singing training on neural activity during voice perception, particularly in response to salient acoustic features, such as the vocal vibrato in classical singing. To address this gap, the present study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain responses to recorded singing voices that either featured or lacked vibrato. Responses were compared between two distinct groups: operatically trained singers and musically untrained controls who had no musical or singing training. Results indicated that for trained classical singers, perception of vibrato led to differential fMRI activations in bilateral auditory cortical regions and the default mode network (DMN). In contrast, musically untrained controls exhibited differences only in bilateral auditory cortex. These results suggest that training in classical singing leads to experience-dependent neural changes that not only influence sensory processing but also activate self-referential networks in the brain, possibly through embodiment of the acoustic features associated with one's own singing style, such as vibrato.