{"id":152594,"date":"2026-04-28T09:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T13:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=152594"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:36:19","slug":"taking-apart-the-mystery-of-vocal-fatigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/taking-apart-the-mystery-of-vocal-fatigue\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Apart the Mystery of Vocal Fatigue"},"content":{"rendered":"
To better understand Assistant Professor Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh and his work, he goes back to a childhood memory of broken toys. Within hours of receiving little robotic figures or remote-control cars, he\u2019d dissembled what had once been a carefully crafted package of technology. To him, sitting among the remnants of a new gift meant he was sitting in a circle of fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favorite game was to take the toys apart to see how they work and then try to put them back together,\u201d Ghasemzadeh says. \u201cMy parents saw my curiosity as a great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
“This is why I came to UCF. I\u2019ve been able to jump right in and address mysteries that haven\u2019t received much attention.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
That same curiosity now drives his research at UCF\u2019s School of Communication Sciences and Disorders<\/a>, where he seeks to take apart discomforted voices, figuratively, so he can develop strategies to make each one whole again. Ghasemzadeh, who joined 女仆AV in late Summer 2025 and will teach in the school\u2019s newly launched communication sciences and disorders doctoral program<\/a>, has already secured one research project funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and is developing another.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why I came to UCF,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to jump right in and address mysteries that haven\u2019t received much attention until now.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Common Problem Without Clear Answers<\/h2>\n
The first such mystery sounds quite straightforward: vocal fatigue, a common vocal complaint. Beneath the surface, however, it\u2019s deceptive. Solutions have mostly evaded scientists, leaving vocal fatigue as an ongoing problem for many people who rely on their voices, like coaches, public speakers, singers and teachers. Many of Ghasemzadeh\u2019s colleagues experience the very throat discomfort that he\u2019s deconstructing during the funded project just underway.<\/p>\n
“We want to collect … multi-modal data and use machine learning models to analyze [vocal fatigue] and develop recommendations for each person.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cSome instructors get vocal fatigue quickly, some get it slowly and some don\u2019t get it at all,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s a genetic component, but there are also behavioral components. How do they use their voice? How often do they use it? What about the environment where they\u2019re using it? What about personality? We want to collect such comprehensive multi-modal data and use machine learning models to analyze it and develop recommendations for each person.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recommendations might include pacing voice usage, projecting the voice efficiently and allowing the voice to recover. Ghasemzadeh envisions this model being predictive and \u2014 this is the part he stresses most \u2014 personalized.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe approach to general medicine started with an assumption that while we\u2019re different on the outside, we are very similar inside. Patients with similar ailments took the same medications and [the] same dosages. But we now know that people don\u2019t always respond to pills the same way. If we can quantify how we\u2019re different inside, we can create a computational model to predict responses to medications and optimize treatment plans.\u201d<\/p>\n