Journal article
Embracing variability: toward proactive and precision-based voice science
Logopedics, phoniatrics, vocology, Vol.51(1), pp.60-68
2026
DOI: 10.1080/14015439.2025.2562929
PMCID: PMC12884546
PMID: 40996902
Abstract
We propose that rigorous measurement practices combined with frameworks focused on functional capacity can transform physiological variability, traditionally dismissed as "noise," into diagnostic information for precision-based voice care. A conceptual framework integrating vocal capacity, demand response, reserve, and recovery enables individualized monitoring, predictive risk assessment, and proactive intervention, mirroring progress in cardiology and orthopedics where variability became diagnostic.
a teacher's inconsistent perturbation may signal depleted reserve requiring pacing; a singer's instability may reflect insufficient reserve under rehearsal load, guiding recovery scheduling;
a neurological patient's fluctuations may indicate variable demand response, informing targeted intervention.
Variability-informed models can establish individual baselines, track change trajectories, and identify functional thresholds before overt disorder emerges. Embracing physiological variability offers a path to align clinical strategies with functional sustainability, transforming uncertainty into actionable insight for research and clinical practice.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Embracing variability: toward proactive and precision-based voice science
- Creators
- Eric J Hunter - University of IowaMark L Berardi - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Logopedics, phoniatrics, vocology, Vol.51(1), pp.60-68
- DOI
- 10.1080/14015439.2025.2562929
- PMID
- 40996902
- PMCID
- PMC12884546
- NLM abbreviation
- Logoped Phoniatr Vocol
- ISSN
- 1651-2022
- eISSN
- 1651-2022
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Grant note
- NIDCD of the National Institutes of Health: R01DC012315
This report and conceptualization was supported by the NIDCD of the National Institutes of Health under Grant No. R01DC012315. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 09/25/2025
- Date published
- 2026
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders; Teaching and Learning
- Record Identifier
- 9984966340202771
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