AUTHOR=Frühholz Sascha , Trost Wiebke , Constantinescu Irina , Grandjean Didier 

TITLE=Neural Dynamics of Karaoke-Like Voice Imitation in Singing Performance

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00135

DOI=10.3389/fnhum.2020.00135

ISSN=1662-5161

ABSTRACT=<p>Beyond normal and non-imitative singing, the imitation of the timbre of another singer’s voice, such as in Karaoke singing, involves the demanding reproduction of voice quality features and strongly depends on singing experience and practice. We show that precise voice imitation in a highly proficient and experienced vocal imitator, even in the absence of <italic>external</italic> auditory voice feedback, largely drew on <italic>internal</italic> cortico-subcortical auditory resources to control voicing errors based on imagined voice performance. Compared to the experienced vocal imitator, singers of a control group without experience in voice imitation used only sensorimotor feedback and demanding monitoring resources for imitation in the absence of voice feedback, a neural strategy that led, however, to a significantly poorer vocal performance. Thus, only long-term vocal imitation experience allows for the additional use of internal auditory brain resources, which result from training-induced brain plasticity, and which enable accurate vocal performance even under difficult performance conditions.</p>