Spasmodic dysphonia is a voice disorder that currently has no cure. As part of a project funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers in the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory, directed by Prof. Juergen Konczak, examined the sense of body awareness (proprioception) in adults with spasmodic dysphonia.

Specifically, researchers assessed the ability of patients to sense the position of their arm in space. The results indicated that impaired limb proprioception is a common feature of spasmodic dysphonia. While the motor impairment is restricted to the voice, the sensory impairment also affects non-symptomatic body parts. The findings will appear in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Voice.