Gláucia Laís SalomãoResearcher
About me
I am a researcher in speech (acoustic phonetics) and voice science. My main research interests focus on the human voice, both in speech and in singing, with particular emphasis on:
- The relationships between acoustics, production, and perception
- The vocal communication of emotions
- The neurobiological correlates of voice production and voice perception
- The neurobiological correlates of emotional empathy arising from voices
I earned my Ph.D. in Linguistics (Acoustic Phonetics) in 2009, which included a scholarship for a doctoral stage at the Department of Speech, Music and Hearing, Royal Institute of Technology (TMH–KTH). Since 2010, I have worked on a range of voice-related research projects at KTH, Stockholm University (SU), and Karolinska Institute (KI), in collaboration with other European universities. These include SkAT-VG (http://www.skatvg.eu/), VoxLog (https://www.vinnova.se/p/voxlog-barbar-rostanalysator/), and PROPEREMO (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/230331/reporting/es).
A grant from the Stockholm University Brain Imaging Center (SUBIC) in 2021 facilitated the launch of the project Listening to Others’ Emotions. The project subsequently received funding from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (Stiftelsen Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, P22-0574) and began in March 2023. In this project, I combine functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), psychophysiological techniques—such as skin conductance measurement and pupillometry—and subjective assessments to investigate the neural representations underlying empathy evoked by emotional voices.
Listening to Others’ Emotions is being carried out at SUBIC in collaboration with the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (Germany).
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-reviewed original articles, conference contributions and book chapters
Salomão GL, Adler A. Autonomic responses during vocal expression and perception of emotions. In: Society for Psychophysiological Research Annual Meeting; 2025 Oct 15–18; Montréal, Canada. Accepted.
Salomão GL. Voicing emotions in silence. Using MVPA to decode emotional inner speech. In: Fonetik2025 [conference proceedings]; 2025 May 21-23; Växjö, Sweden
Salomão GL. Using pattern recognition algorithms for investigating neural activities underlying voice production imagery. In: Voice and Speech Science in the Age of Machine Learning [conference proceedings]; 2025 Mar 7–8; Online conference. Available from: https://ncvs.org/2025-conference-program/
Salomão GL, Schieche CF, Almeida R. ‘Inner voices’: a pilot study on the similarities between neural representations underlying vocal imagery and actual voice production. In: PEVOC: 15th Pan-European Voice Conference [conference proceedings]; 2024 Aug 27–30; Santander, Spain. Available from: https://www.pevoc2024.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Abstracts.pdf
Salomão GL, Schieche CF. Do I feel what I express? Relationships between objective and subjective measurements of the emotional experience. In: The Voice Foundation's 53rd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice[conference proceedings]; 2024 May 29–Jun 2; Philadelphia, USA. Available from: https://voicefoundation.org/2024-symposium-abstracts/entry/166/?sort%5B154%5D
Sundberg J, Salomão GL, Scherer K. Emotional expressivity in singing: assessing physiological and acoustic indicators of two opera singers' voice characteristics. J Acoust Soc Am. 2024;155(1):18-28. Available from: https://pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article-abstract/155/1/18/2932306/Emotional-expressivity-in-singing-Assessing?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Salomão GL. Patterns of neural activity associated with production and perception of emotional voices: an fMRI pilot study. In: The Voice Foundation's 52nd Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice [conference proceedings]; 2023 Jun 1–4; Philadelphia, USA. Available from: https://voicefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-SYMP-Program.pdf
Salomão GL. Listening to others’ emotions: an fMRI case study on empathy arising from emotional voices. In: PEVOC 14th Pan-European Voice Conference [conference proceedings]; 2022 Aug 24–26; Tallinn, Estonia. Available from: https://www.pevoc2022.ee/_files/ugd/185507_5788ee8a8b0a467999af3ffd83cc9b45.pdf
Sundberg J, Salomão GL, Scherer K. Subglottal pressure and glottal resistance in two opera singers’ expression of emotion: a study of voice source and long-term average spectrum. In: PEVOC 14th Pan-European Voice Conference[conference proceedings]; 2022 Aug 24–26; Tallinn, Estonia. Available from: https://www.pevoc2022.ee/_files/ugd/185507_5788ee8a8b0a467999af3ffd83cc9b45.pdf
Mariz J, Camargo Z, Salomão GL. Application of the VPA for perceptual assessment of voice quality in medium and high ranges in singing: preliminary findings. In: PEVOC 14th Pan-European Voice Conference [conference proceedings]; 2022 Aug 24–26; Tallinn, Estonia. Available from: https://www.pevoc2022.ee/_files/ugd/185507_5788ee8a8b0a467999af3ffd83cc9b45.pdf
Salomão GL. Hearing emotions: an fMRI pilot study of neural activities underlying production and perception of emotional voices. In: The Voice Foundation's 51st Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice [conference proceedings]; 2022 Jun 1–5; Philadelphia, USA. Available from: https://voicefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-SYMP-Program_DraftFinal.pdf
Salomão GL, Sundberg J, Scherer K. Expressivity in singing: a study of physiologically related parameters underlying vocal expression of emotions. In: 7th International Physiology and Acoustics of Singing Conference [conference proceedings]; 2022 May 5–7; Brazil. Online conference. Available from: https://ifvportal.com/pas7-book-of-abstracts-full/
Sundberg J, Salomão GL, Scherer K. Analyzing emotion expression in singing via flow glottograms, long-term-average spectra, and listener evaluation. J Voice. 2021;35(1):52-60. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2019.08.007
Salomão GL. How voice mirrors emotions: relationships between emotions and physiological, aerodynamic and acoustic characteristics of phonation. In: Brazilian Otorhinolaryngology Foundation Conference [conference proceedings]; 2020 Sep 19; Online conference. Available from: https://forl.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2020_virtual_congress_fo.pdf
Salomão GL. Como a voz reflete emoções: uma interpretação neurofisiológica de dados de expressão vocal [How voice reflects emotions: a neurophysiological interpretation of vocal expression data]. In: XXVIII Brazilian Congress of Speech-Language Pathology and V Ibero-American Congress of Speech Pathology [conference proceedings]; 2020 Oct 7–10; Brazil. Online conference. Available from: https://www.sbfa.org.br/plataforma2020/anais
Friberg A, Lindeberg T, Hellwagner M, Helgason P, Salomão GL, Elowsson A, Lemaitre G, Ternström S. Prediction of three articulatory categories in vocal sound imitations using models for auditory receptive fields. J Acoust Soc Am. 2018;144(3):1467-83. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5052438
Sundberg J, Salomão GL, Scherer KR. What does LTAS tell about the voice source? In: The Voice Foundation's 47th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice [conference proceedings]; 2018 May 30–Jun 3; Philadelphia, USA. Available from: https://voicefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/All-Abstracts_2018.pdf
Sundberg J, Salomão GL, Scherer KR. Emotion expression in singing voice source: characteristics and emotional coloring used by three world-renowned male singers. In: The Voice Foundation's 46th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice [conference proceedings]; 2017 May 31–Jun 4; Philadelphia, USA. Available from: https://voicefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Abstracts-2017-1.pdf
Salomão GL. Expressão vocal de emoções: metáforas sonoras, fala e canto [Vocal expression of emotions: sound metaphors, speech and singing]. In: Madureira S, editor. São Paulo: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo; 2016. ISBN: 978-85-60453-32-0. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321275600_Vocal_expression_of_Emotions_Sound_Metaphors_Speech_and_Singing_-_Expressao_Vocal_de_Emocoes_Metaforas_Sonoras_Fala_e_Canto
Salomão GL, Helgason P, Ternström S. A database of articulatory annotations of vocal imitations. In: Proceedings of the XXIX Swedish Phonetics Conference [conference proceedings]; 2016 Jun 9–11; Stockholm, Sweden. Available from: https://www.ling.su.se/polopoly_fs/1.179602.1401966584!/menu/standard/file/Fonetik2014_inlaga.pdf
Salomão GL, Sundberg J, Scherer KR. Emotional coloring of the singing voice. In: PEVOC 11th Pan-European Voice Conference [conference proceedings]; 2015 Aug 31–Sep 2; Florence, Italy. doi: 10.36253/978-88-6655-795-1
Salomão GL, Sundberg J, Scherer KR. Emotional coloring in singing: an in-depth spectral analysis of a tenor's voice. In: IV International Conference on Music and Emotion [conference proceedings]; 2015 Oct 12–16; Geneva, Switzerland. Available from: https://www.unige.ch/icme4/pdf/bookleticme4_web.pdf
Eyben F, Salomão GL, Sundberg J, Scherer K, Schuller B. Emotion in the singing voice: a deeper look at acoustic features in the light of automatic classification. EURASIP J Audio Speech Music Process. 2015;2015:19. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13636-015-0057-6
Södersten M, Salomão GL, McAllister A, Ternström S. Natural voice use in patients with voice disorders and vocally healthy speakers based on 2 days’ voice accumulator information from a database. J Voice. 2015;29(5):646.e1–646.e9. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2014.09.006
Gerholm T, Gustavsson L, Salomão GL, Schwarz I-C. The Swedish MINT project: modelling infant language acquisition from parent-child interaction. In: WEIRCLE Workshop on Extensive and Intensive Recordings of Children’s Language Environment [conference proceedings]; 2015 Dec 7–8; Paris, France. Online conference.
Scherer KR, Sundberg J, Tamarit L, Salomão GL. Comparing the acoustic expression of emotion in the speaking and singing voice. Comput Speech Lang. 2015;29(1):218-35. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csl.2013.10.002
Salomão GL. Relevance of glottal flow parameters to the perception of voice quality. In: 29th World Congress of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) [conference proceedings]; 2013 Aug 25–29; Torino, Italy.
Salomão GL. Relationships between flow glottal parameters and the perception of voice quality. In: PEVOC 10th Pan-European Voice Conference [conference proceedings]; 2013 Aug 21–24; Prague, Czech Republic. Available from: https://www.pevoc.org/pevoc10/en/index.html
Södersten M, Salomão GL, Ternström S, McAllister A. Voice use during two days in patients with voice disorders and vocally healthy speakers based on voice accumulator information from a database. In: 3rd Occupational Voice Symposium [conference proceedings]; 2013 Apr 23–24; London, UK.
Camargo Z, Salomão GL, Pinho S. Análise acústica e aerodinâmica da voz [Acoustic and aerodynamic assessment of voice]. In: Caldas S, Melo J, Martins R, Selaimen S, editors. Tratado de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cervicofacial[Treatise on Otorhinolaryngology and Cervicofacial Surgery]. 2nd ed. São Paulo: Editora Roca; 2011. p. 785-93. ISBN: 978-8572419222.
Salomão GL, Sundberg J. What do male singers mean by modal and falsetto register? An investigation of the glottal voice source. Logoped Phoniatr Vocol. 2009;34(2):73-83. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/14015430902879918
Salomão GL, Sundberg J. Relation between perceived voice register and flow glottogram parameters in males. J Acoust Soc Am. 2008;124(1):546-51. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2924146
Salomão GL, Sundberg J. Voice-source differences between male singers’ modal and falsetto registers. In: The Voice Foundation's 37th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice [conference proceedings]; 2008 May 28–Jun 1; Philadelphia, USA. Available from: https://voicefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/2008SymposiumProgram.pdf
Salomão GL. Registros vocais no canto: aspectos perceptivos, acústicos, aerodinâmicos e fisiológicos da voz modal e da voz de falsete [Vocal registers: perceptual, acoustic, aerodynamic, and physiological aspects of modal and falsetto voices] [doctoral thesis]. São Paulo (Brazil): Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo; 2008. Available from: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25333.79842
Salomão GL. Relationship between perceived vocal registers and glottal flow parameters: preliminary results. In: Speech Prosody 2008, Fourth Conference on Speech Prosody [conference proceedings]; 2008 May 6–9; Campinas, Brazil. Available from: https://www.sprosig.org/sp2008/index.html
Salomão GL. Expressividade da fala: relações entre expressão vocal e conteúdo emotivo [Speech expressiveness: relationships between vocal expression and emotional content] [master’s thesis]. São Paulo (Brazil): University of São Paulo; 1998. Available from: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15479.64163/1
Translation and technical reviews
Salomão GL. Ciência da voz: fatos sobre a voz na fala e no canto [Voice science: facts on voice in speech and singing]. Translation Swedish–Portuguese of Röstlära: fakta om rösten i tal och sång by Johan Sundberg. São Paulo (Brazil): Edusp – Editora da Universidade de São Paulo; 2015. ISBN: 978-8531415104. Available from: https://www.edusp.com.br/livros/ciencia-da-voz/
Research projects
Publications
A selection from Stockholm University publication database
-
Analyzing Emotion Expression in Singing via Flow Glottograms, Long-Term-Average Spectra, and Expert Listener Evaluation
2021. Johan Sundberg, Gláucia Laís Salomão, Klaus R. Scherer. Journal of Voice 35 (1), 52-60
ArticleRead more about Analyzing Emotion Expression in Singing via Flow Glottograms, Long-Term-Average Spectra, and Expert Listener EvaluationBackground
Acoustic aspects of emotional expressivity in speech have been analyzed extensively during recent decades. Emotional coloring is an important if not the most important property of sung performance, and therefore strictly controlled. Hence, emotional expressivity in singing may promote a deeper insight into vocal signaling of emotions. Furthermore, physiological voice source parameters can be assumed to facilitate the understanding of acoustical characteristics.
Method
Three highly experienced professional male singers sang scales on the vowel /ae/ or /a/ in 10 emotional colors (Neutral, Sadness, Tender, Calm, Joy, Contempt, Fear, Pride, Love, Arousal, and Anger). Sixteen voice experts classified the scales in a forced-choice listening test, and the result was compared with long-term-average spectrum (LTAS) parameters and with voice source parameters, derived from flow glottograms (FLOGG) that were obtained from inverse filtering the audio signal.
Results
On the basis of component analysis, the emotions could be grouped into four “families”, Anger-Contempt, Joy-Love-Pride, Calm-Tender-Neutral and Sad-Fear. Recognition of the intended emotion families by listeners reached accuracy levels far beyond chance level. For the LTAS and FLOGG parameters, vocal loudness had a paramount influence on all. Also after partialing out this factor, some significant correlations were found between FLOGG and LTAS parameters. These parameters could be sorted into groups that were associated with the emotion families.
Conclusions
(i) Both LTAS and FLOGG parameters varied significantly with the enactment intentions of the singers. (ii) Some aspects of the voice source are reflected in LTAS parameters. (iii) LTAS parameters affect listener judgment of the enacted emotions and the accuracy of the intended emotional coloring.
-
What does LTAS tell about the voice source?
2018. Johan Sundberg, Gláucia Laís Salomão, Klaus R. Scherer. 47th Annual Symposium: Care of the Professional Voice, 15-15
ConferenceRead more about What does LTAS tell about the voice source?Objective: The long-term-average spectrum, or LTAS has been extensively used in voice research. It provides an overall measure of voice characteristics allowing to derive a large number of parameters. A minimalistic set of parameters has been identified which offers the most essential properties [Eyben et al., 2015; 2016; Scherer et al., 2017]. LTAS analysis is typically applied to audio signals of running speech or continuous singing. It reflects the combination of formant frequency and voice source characteristics. Often, e.g. in clinical settings, it is relevant to distinguish between these two sources Voice source analysis can be performed by means of inverse filtering. The aim of the present work was to analyse the relationships between LTAS and voice source properties.
Method: Three internationally touring male singers sang scales in eleven different emotional colours. This material was analysed by inverse filtering as well as in terms of LTAS. The correlations between the averages across the scale tones of the flow glottogram parameters and minimalistic set of LTAS parameters were analysed.
Results/Conclusions: A strong negative correlation was found between spectral slope and the flow glottogram’s maximum flow declination rate MFDR, and a strong positive correlation between proportion of spectral energy below 1000Hz and H1-H2. Somewhat surprisingly, a strong negative correlation was found between equivalent sound level and the normalized and un-normalized amplitude quotients (the ratio between AC peak-to-peak amplitude of the flow glottogram and MFDR). Thus, these LTAS parameters seem particularly informative with respect to voice source characteristics.
-
Expressão vocal de emoções [Vocal expression of emotions]: metáfora sonora, fala e canto [Sound metaphors, speech and singing]
2016. Gláucia Laís Salomão. Sonoridades [Sonorities], 31-43
ChapterRead more about Expressão vocal de emoções [Vocal expression of emotions]The communication of emotions is crucial to social relationships and plays a fundamental role in maintaining the social order between people. In this chapter we are looking at the communication of emotions through two expressive modalities that make use of sound as a mean of communication, i.e. speech and singing. Throughout the text we argue in favor of the idea that the vocal expression of emotions reflects physiological aspects associated to the emotion itself that is expressed; that there are many similarities between the expressive patterns found in speech and in singing; and that the singing is expressive bacause it has traces of expressive patterns of speech.
-
Emotion in the singing voice—a deeper look at acoustic features in the light of automatic classification
2015. Florian Eyben (et al.). EURASIP Journal on Audio, Speech, and Music Processing
ArticleRead more about Emotion in the singing voice—a deeper look at acoustic features in the light of automatic classificationWe investigate the automatic recognition of emotions in the singing voice and study the worth and role of a variety of relevant acoustic parameters. The data set contains phrases and vocalises sung by eight renowned professional opera singers in ten different emotions and a neutral state. The states are mapped to ternary arousal and valence labels. We propose a small set of relevant acoustic features basing on our previous findings on the same data and compare it with a large-scale state-of-the-art feature set for paralinguistics recognition, the baseline feature set of the Interspeech 2013 Computational Paralinguistics ChallengE (ComParE). A feature importance analysis with respect to classification accuracy and correlation of features with the targets is provided in the paper. Results show that the classification performance with both feature sets is similar for arousal, while the ComParE set is superior for valence. Intra singer feature ranking criteria further improve the classification accuracy in a leave-one-singer-out cross validation significantly.
-
The Swedish MINT Project: modelling infant language acquisition from parten-child interaction
2015. Tove Gerholm (et al.).
ConferenceRead more about The Swedish MINT ProjectThe MINT-project is a longitudinal study of verbal and nonverbal interaction between 73 Swedish children and their parents, recorded in lab environment from 3 months to 3 years of age. The overall goal of the project is to deepen our understanding of how language acquisition takes place in a multimodal and interactional framework.
Show all publications by Gláucia Laís Salomão at Stockholm University
$presentationText