L’autisme est caractérisé par des difficultés majeures de la socialisation. Ces perturbations ont été mises en lien avec des déficits de perception des stimuli sociaux (voix, visages) chez des adultes avec autisme. L’objectif de ce travail est d’étudier la réponse électrophysiologique de la voix humaine au cours du développement dans l’autisme en comparaison au développement normal. Une réponse positive, spécifique à la voix, localisée au niveau fronto-temporal (Fronto-Temporal Positivity to Voice : FTPV) et latéralisée à droite a été mise en évidence chez les adultes et enfants sains. Bien que retardée d’environ 20 ms, cette réponse est également enregistrée chez les enfants avec autisme. En revanche, elle n’est pas observée chez les adultes avec autisme. Cette perte de fonctionnalité des réseaux neuronaux impliqués dans le traitement de la voix est discutée selon une perspective développementale et en lien avec les déficits d’interactions sociales qui caractérisent l’autisme. / Autism is characterized by major social disorders with difficulties that have been linked to disorders of perception of social stimuli (voices, faces) in adults with autism. The aim of this study was to investigate the electrophysiological response to human voice in normal development and in adults and children with autism. A specific positive response to voice located over the fronto-temporal region (Fronto-Temporal Positivity to Voice: FTPV) with right lateralization was identified in normal adults and children. Although delayed by about 20 ms, this specific response was also recorded in children with autism. In contrast, the FTPV was not present in adults with autism. This loss of function in neural networks involved in voice processing is discussed from a developmental perspective and in relation with the disorders of social interaction found in autism.

Francis Poulencs musical setting of La Voix Humaine, a one-act monodrama by Jean Cocteau, has enjoyed many successful performances since the premiere at the Paris Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique in February, 1959. Cocteau's original play (1932) was inspired by a crossed-wire" telephone conversation which he overheard in 1930. The play has become an international success, and requires the talents of a gifted actress. La Voix Humaine (hereafter LVH) is one of three unique stage works by Poulenc. All of his operas were composed late in his life and reflect a variety of libretto types. His first opera, Les Mamelles de Tirésias (1947), was a one-act comic opera. This satirical and humorous subject may be greatly contrasted with his full-length tragic opera, Les Dialogues des Carmélites (1957). In view of its monodramatic construction and the sensual tragic-romantic use of the orchestra, LVH stands alone as a specialized and demanding work for the theatre.

Francis Poulenc's one-character opera La Voix humaine (1958), a setting of the homonymous play by Jean Cocteau, explores the psychological complexities of an unnamed woman as she experiences the end of a romantic relationship. During the forty-minute work, she sings in a declamatory manner into a telephone, which serves as a sign of the unrevealed man at the other end. Poulenc uses musical motives to underscore the woman's changing emotional states as she recalls her past relationship. The musical dramaturgy in this work resignifies Debussy's impressionist symbolism by collapsing devices used in Pelléas et Mélisande in a language that shifts between octatonicism, chromaticism, harmonic and melodic whole tone passages, and diatonicism. This late work recontextualizes elements in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (1953-56), and the end of the opera provides a theme for his Sonate pour Clarinet et Piano(1962), as Poulenc reflects on his youthful encounters with Cocteau, Erik Satie, and Les Six.

In 1959 French composer Francis Poulenc composed the opera La Voix humaine based on Jean Cocteau’s original play (1928). La Voix humaine is a one-act opera for soprano. The main character, Elle, spends the opera on the phone with her ex-lover who is marrying another the next day. Many musicians believe this opera is difficult or impossible to update, due to the use of the telephone and its dated operator system, which is a large aspect of the action and drama. This document provides the reader with a new interpretation of the opera with modern technology. Chapter One begins with a brief history of the creators of the play and opera, Jean Cocteau and Francis Poulenc. It delves into their early years, leading up to their time involved with Les Six. Chapter Two discusses Cocteau’s vision and creation of the play and continues to his collaboration with Poulenc on the opera. Chapter Three offers a view of how the phone plays a large part in the play, continues to the telephone’s function during the time period the play was written, and concludes with a look at how current technology may be applied to an updated interpretation of the opera. Chapter Four provides a look at the sections of the libretto that is linked to the telephone, thus making its use unavoidable in certain portions of the opera while providing musical examples. It also discusses how the libretto poses a problem with a modern-day telephone system and how to address these issues. Chapter Five presents ways to incorporate the use of an iPad into the second section of the opera, through analysis and interpretation of the text. Chapter Six gives a look into modern research on technology and its effects on mental health, following with how this research can be applied to a modern interpretation of the work and Elle’s untimely suicide due to effects of technology addiction. This chapter also discusses how the text and music support these ideas. Finally, the conclusion summarizes main ideas and their application into the opera.