Mairym Llorens Monteserin, PhD
llorensm@usc.edu
Hello, my name is Mai and I'm a speech scientist. I study how people use their vocal organs to talk. My pronouns are she/her.
I've recently completed my PhD studies at the University of Southern California Linguistics department. My dissertation examines interactions between speaking and vocal tic production in adults with Tourette syndrome.
People do all sorts of things with their vocal-respiratory system: cry, scream, laugh, cough, and of course, talk. Sometimes we do these all separately, but it's often the case that vocal behaviors occur at the same time, like when we are laughing-while-talking.
Usually we can get our words out even if we are laughing, but sometimes we just can't stop laughing. Laughing is just one example. The same can be said about coughing and other vocal urges. In my research I ask the question: how does a flexible speech system interact with non-communicative systems?
For my dissertation, I'm using the tools of linguistics and phonetics to study the acoustic signatures of ticcing-while-talking in adults with Tourette syndrome. For more information go to my dissertation page.