Use of the Lombard response in cases of hysterical aphonia.

Lombard is best known for his work on the effect of noise on vocal intensity. In 1917, he applied this concept to the treatment of hysterical aphonia and described the procedure he used in a military publication. He suggested that a masking noise will interfere with the auditory monitoring system sufficiently that the patient will not be aware he has regained use of phonation. Removal of the noise from the patient's ears confirms the return of phonation, and the aphonia disappears. Credit is given to Lombard for this pioneering effort, and suggestions for present-day clinical use are made.