Effects of consonant manner and vowel height on intraoral pressure and articulatory contact at voicing offset and onset for voiceless obstruents

In obstruent consonants, a major constriction in the upper vocal tract yields an increase in intraoral pressure (P(io)). Phonation requires that subglottal pressure (P(sub)) exceed P(io) by a threshold value, so as the transglottal pressure reaches the threshold, phonation will cease. This work investigates how P(io) levels at phonation offset and onset vary before and after different German voiceless obstruents (stop, fricative, affricates, clusters), and with following high vs low vowels. Articulatory contacts, measured using electropalatography, were recorded simultaneously with P(io) to clarify how supraglottal constrictions affect P(io). Effects of consonant type on phonation thresholds could be explained mainly in terms of the magnitude and timing of vocal-fold abduction. Phonation offset occurred at lower values of P(io) before fricative-initial sequences than stop-initial sequences, and onset occurred at higher levels of P(io) following the unaspirated stops of clusters compared to fricatives, affricates, and aspirated stops. The vowel effects were somewhat surprising: High vowels had an inhibitory effect at voicing offset (phonation ceasing at lower values of P(io)) in short-duration consonant sequences, but a facilitating effect on phonation onset that was consistent across consonantal contexts. The vowel influences appear to reflect a combination of vocal-fold characteristics and vocal-tract impedance.     

Direct measurement of onset and offset phonation threshold pressure in normal subjects

Phonation threshold pressures were directly measured in five normal subjects in a variety of voicing conditions. The effects of fundamental frequency, intensity, closure speed of the vocal folds, and laryngeal airway resistance on phonation threshold pressures were determined. Subglottic air pressures were measured using percutaneous puncture of the cricothyroid membrane. Both onset and offset of phonation were studied to see if a hysteresis effect produced lower offset pressures than onset pressures. Univariate analysis showed that phonation threshold pressure was influenced most strongly by fundamental frequency and intensity. Multiple linear regression showed that these two variables, as well as laryngeal airway resistance, most strongly predicted phonation threshold pressure. Two of the five subjects demonstrated a significant hysteresis effect, but one subject actually had higher offset pressures than onset pressures.     

The cricothyroid muscle in voicing control

Initiation and maintenance of vibrations of the vocal folds require suitable conditions of adduction, longitudinal tension, and transglottal airflow. Thus manipulation of adduction/abduction, stiffening/slackening, or degree of transglottal flow may, in principle, be used to determine the voicing status of a speech segment. This study explores the control of voicing and voicelessness in speech with particular reference to the role of changes in the longitudinal tension of the vocal folds, as indicated by cricothyroid (CT) muscle activity. Electromyographic recordings were made from the CT muscle in two speakers of American English and one speaker of Dutch. The linguistic material consisted of reiterant speech made up of CV syllables where the consonants were voiced and voiceless stops, fricatives, and affricates. Comparison of CT activity associated with the voiced and voiceless consonants indicated a higher level for the voiceless consonants than for their voiced cognates. Measurements of the fundamental frequency (F0) at the beginning of a vowel following the consonant show the common pattern of higher F0 after voiceless consonants. For one subject, there was no difference in cricothyroid activity for voiced and voiceless affricates; in this case, the consonant-induced variations in the F0 of the following vowel were also less robust. Consideration of timing relationships between the EMG curves for voiced and voiceless consonants suggests that the differences most likely reflect control of vocal-fold tension for maintenance or suppression of phonatory vibrations. The same mechanism also seems to contribute to the well-known difference in F0 at the beginning of vowels following voiced and voiceless consonants.     

Gender differences in vocal fold contact computed from electroglottographic signals: the influence of measurement criteria

EGGW is a phonatory parameter that can be derived from electroglottographic (EGG) signals and used to infer the relative degree of vocal fold contact. Vocal fold models predict that men will exhibit medial bulging of their vocal folds during phonation but women will not. These models lead us to expect gender differences in the magnitude of EGGW. Nevertheless, significant gender differences in EGGW for adults with normal voices have not been documented in previous studies when EGGW was computed from criterion lines placed at 25%-40% of the amplitude of the uninverted EGG wave form. We hypothesized that EGGW would better reflect gender differences in vocal fold adductory patterns if EGGW was computed from portions of the wave form that were associated with more vocal fold contact. EGGW was measured for seven men and seven women with normal voices. When EGGW was computed from segments of the wave form that were associated with relatively greater vocal fold contact (i.e., using criterion levels of > or = 55%), findings were consistent with the gender-specific adductory patterns that have been proposed from vocal fold models. Guidelines for appropriate placement of criterion lines when computing EGGW are discussed.     

Multidimensional analyses of voicing offsets and onsets in female speakers

This study investigates cross-speaker differences in the factors that predict voicing thresholds during abduction-adduction gestures in six normal women. Measures of baseline airflow, pulse amplitude, subglottal pressure, and fundamental frequency were made at voicing offset and onset during intervocalic /h/, produced in varying vowel environments and at different loudness levels, and subjected to relational analyses to determine which factors were most strongly related to the timing of voicing cessation or initiation. The data indicate that (a) all speakers showed differences between voicing offsets and onsets, but the degree of this effect varied across speakers; (b) loudness and vowel environment have speaker-specific effects on the likelihood of devoicing during /h/; and (c) baseline flow measures significantly predicted times of voicing offset and onset in all participants, but other variables contributing to voice timing differed across speakers. Overall, the results suggest that individual speakers have unique methods of achieving phonatory goals during running speech. These data contribute to the literature on individual differences in laryngeal function, and serve as a means of evaluating how well laryngeal models can reproduce the range of voicing behavior used by speakers during running speech tasks.     

Physical mechanisms of phonation onset: a linear stability analysis of an aeroelastic continuum model of phonation

In an investigation of phonation onset, a linear stability analysis was performed on a two-dimensional, aeroelastic, continuum model of phonation. The model consisted of a vocal fold-shaped constriction situated in a rigid pipe coupled to a potential flow which separated at the superior edge of the vocal fold. The vocal fold constriction was modeled as a plane-strain linear elastic layer. The dominant eigenvalues and eigenmodes of the fluid-structure-interaction system were investigated as a function of glottal airflow. To investigate specific aerodynamic mechanisms of phonation onset, individual components of the glottal airflow (e.g., flow-induced stiffness, inertia, and damping) were systematically added to the driving force. The investigations suggested that flow-induced stiffness was the primary mechanism of phonation onset, involving the synchronization of two structural eigenmodes. Only under conditions of negligible structural damping and a restricted set of vocal fold geometries did flow-induced damping become the primary mechanism of phonation onset. However, for moderate to high structural damping and a more generalized set of vocal fold geometries, flow-induced stiffness remained the primary mechanism of phonation onset.     

Voicing and silence periods in daily and weekly vocalizations of teachers

The National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS) data bank on voice dosimetry was used to study the distributions of continuous voicing periods and silence periods in 31 teachers over the duration of two weeks. Recordings were made during all awake hours of the day. Voicing periods were grouped into half decades, ranging from 0.0316 to 0.10 s for the shortest periods of phonation to 31.6-100 s for the longest periods of phonation. Silence periods were grouped into similar half decades, but ranged up to periods of several hours. On average, the teachers had 1800 occurrences of voicing (onset followed by offset) per hour at work and 1200 occurrences per hour while not at work. Voicing occurred 23% of the total time at work, dropping to 13% during off-work hours and 12% on weekends. The greatest accumulation of voicing occurred in the 0.316-1.0 s voicing periods, whereas the greatest accumulation of silence occurred in the 3-10 s silence periods. The study begins to lay the groundwork for understanding vocal fatigue in terms of repetitive motion and collision of tissue, as well as recovery from such mechanical stress.     

Visualization and Quantification of the Medial Surface Dynamics of an Excised Human Vocal Fold During Phonation

SUMMARY: The purpose of this investigation was to investigate physical mechanisms of vocal fold vibration during normal phonation through quantification of the medial surface dynamics of the fold. An excised hemilarynx setup was used. The dynamics of 30 microsutures mounted on the medial surface of a human vocal fold were analyzed across 18 phonatory conditions. The vibrations were recorded with a digital high-speed camera at a frequency of 4,000 Hz. The positions of the sutures were extracted and converted to three-dimensional coordinates using a linear approximation technique. The data were reduced to principal eigenfuctions, which captured over 90% of the variance of the data, and suggested mechanisms of sustained vocal fold oscillation. The vibrations were imaged as the following phonatory conditions were manipulated: glottal airflow, an adductory force applied to the muscular process, and an elongation force applied to the thyroid cartilage. Over the range of variables studied, only the variation in glottal airflow yielded significant changes in subglottal pressure and fundamental frequency. All recordings showed high correlation for the distribution of the dynamics across the medial surface of the vocal fold. The distribution of the different displacement directions and velocities showed the highest variations around the superior region of the medial surface. Although the computed vibration patterns of the two largest empirical eigenfunctions were consistent with previous experimental observations, the relative prominence of the two eigenfunctions changed as a function of glottal airflow, impacting theories of vocal efficiency and vocal economy.     

A virtual trajectory model predicts differences in vocal fold kinematics in individuals with vocal hyperfunction

A simple, one degree of freedom virtual trajectory model of vocal fold kinematics was developed to investigate whether kinematic features of vocal fold movement confirm increased muscle stiffness. Model simulations verified that increases in stiffness were associated with changes in kinematic parameters, suggesting that increases in gesture rate would affect kinematic features to a lesser degree in vocal hyperfunction patients given the increased levels of muscle tension they typically employ to phonate. This hypothesis was tested experimentally in individuals with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD; N = 10) and vocal nodules (N = 10) relative to controls with healthy normal voice (N = 10) who were examined with trans-nasal endoscopy during a simple vocal fold abductory-adductory task. Kinematic measures in MTD patients were less affected by increased gesture rate, consistent with the hypothesis that these individuals have elevated typical laryngeal muscle tension. Group comparisons of the difference between medium and fast gesture rates (Mann-Whitney, one-tailed) showed statistically significant differences between the control and MTD individuals on the two kinematic features examined (p<0.05). Results in nodules participants were mixed and are discussed independently. The findings support the potential use of vocal fold kinematics as an objective clinical assay of vocal hyperfunction.     

A theoretical study of the effects of various laryngeal configurations on the acoustics of phonation.

Simulation of glottal volume flow and vocal fold tissue movement was accomplished by numerical solution of a time-dependent boundary value problem, in which nonuniform, orthotropic, linear, incompressible vocal fold tissue media were surrounded by irregularly shaped boundaries, which were either fixed or subject to aerodynamic stresses. Spatial nonuniformity of the tissues was of the layered type, including a mucosal layer, a ligamental layer, and muscular layers. Orthotropy was required to stabilized the vocal folds longitudinally and to accomodate large variations in muscular stress. Incompressibility and vertical motions at the golttis played an important role in producing and sustaining phonation. A nominal configuration for male fundamental speaking pitches was selected, and the regulation of fundamental frequency, intensity, average volume flow, and vocal efficiency was investigated in terms of variations around this nominal configuration. Parameters which were varied consisted of geometrical factors such as length, thickness, and depth, factors for shaping the glottis, as well as tissue elasticities, tissue viscosities, and subglottal pressure. Since nonlinear stress-strain properties were not included, subglottal pressure did not produce a pronounced effect upon fundamental frequency under these somewhat edealized conditions F0 rasing correlated strongly with increased tension in the ligament, and somewhat with increasing tension in the vocalis. F0 lowering correlated with increase in vocal fold length when the tensions were held constant, but not with increase in vocal fold thickness. Vocal intensity and efficiency are shown to have local maxima as the configurational parameters are varied one at a time. It appears that oral acoustic power output and vocal efficiency can be maximized by proper adjustments of longitudinal tension of nonmuscular (mucosal and ligamental) tissue layers in relation to muscular layers. Quantitative verification of the "body-cover" theory is therefore suggested, and several further implications with regard to control of the human larynx are considered.     

Effect of Fasting on Voice in Women

OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESIS: To study the effect of fasting on voice in women: abstinence from food and water intake between 14 and 18 hours. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective study on female subjects. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A total of 28 female subjects were included in this study. Their age ranged between 21 and 45 years. Subjects with vocal symptoms or vocal fold lesions were excluded. The subjects were tested when they were not fasting and while fasting after the first week of intermittent fasting during Ramadan. Each subject was first asked about her vocal symptoms and the ease of phonation or phonatory effort. Then each underwent acoustic analysis and laryngeal video-endostroboscopy. RESULTS: Vocal fatigue was the most common reported complaint (53.6%) followed by deepening of the voice (21.4%) and harshness (10.2%). Self-reported phonatory effort was significantly affected by fasting (P value < 0.001). Out of the 28 subjects, 23 had an increase in their phonatory effort. Vocal acoustic parameters did not change markedly except for the maximum phonation time, which decreased significantly. Laryngeal video-endostroboscopy did not reveal any significant changes during fasting. All stroboscopic parameters were the same except for a decrease in the amplitude of the mucosal waves in one subject and the presence of a posterior chink in three subjects. CONCLUSION: Fasting affects voice. There is an increase in the phonatory effort, and vocal fatigue is the most common symptom.     

Vibration in a self-oscillating vocal fold model with left-right asymmetry in body-layer stiffness

This study compares the phonatory behavior of an asymmetric vocal fold model to that of each individual vocal fold model in a hemi-configuration. Although phonation frequencies of the two folds in hemi-configurations had a ratio close to 1:3, a subharmonic synchronization between the two folds was not observed in the asymmetric model. Instead, the vibratory behavior was dominated by the dynamics of one fold only, and the other fold was enslaved to vibrate at the same frequency. Increasing subglottal pressure induced a shift in relative dominance between the two folds, leading to abrupt changes in both vibratory pattern and frequency.     

Perceived phonatory effort and phonation threshold pressure across a prolonged voice loading task: a study of vocal fatigue

Although the problem of vocal fatigue is not uncommon in people with voice disorders, research on objective quantifiable indicators of vocal fatigue is limited. It has been suggested that a speaker's perception of increased phonatory effort associated with periods of prolonged voice use is related to increased lung pressure required to initiate and sustain phonation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among perceived phonatory effort (PPE), which was used as a subjective index of vocal fatigue, and phonation threshold pressure (PTP), a quantifiable measure defined as the minimal lung pressure required to initiate and sustain vocal fold oscillation. PTP and PPE were recorded before, during, and after five adult male and five adult female speakers engaged in a prolonged oral reading task designed to induce vocal fatigue. The results supported a direct, moderately strong relationship between PTP and PPE, particularly when PTP was measured during speech produced at comfortable and low-speaking pitch levels. No gender effects were found. PTP returned to baseline levels within 1 hour after the fatiguing task. PPE returned to baseline within 1 day. The data support the use of PTP as an objective index of vocal fatigue.     

Measurements of vocal fold tissue viscoelasticity: approaching the male phonatory frequency range

Viscoelastic shear properties of human vocal fold tissues have been reported previously. However, data have only been obtained at very low frequencies (< or = 15 Hz). This necessitates data extrapolation to the frequency range of phonation based on constitutive modeling and time-temperature superposition. This study attempted to obtain empirical measurements at higher frequencies with the use of a controlled strain torsional rheometer, with a design of directly controlling input strain that introduced significantly smaller system inertial errors compared to controlled stress rheometry. Linear viscoelastic shear properties of the vocal fold mucosa (cover) from 17 canine larynges were quantified at frequencies of up to 50 Hz. Consistent with previous data, results showed that the elastic shear modulus (G'), viscous shear modulus (G"), and damping ratio (zeta) of the vocal fold mucosa were relatively constant across 0.016-50 Hz, whereas the dynamic viscosity (eta') decreased monotonically with frequency. Constitutive characterization of the empirical data by a quasilinear viscoelastic model and a statistical network model demonstrated trends of viscoelastic behavior at higher frequencies generally following those observed at lower frequencies. These findings supported the use of controlled strain rheometry for future investigations of the viscoelasticity of vocal fold tissues and phonosurgical biomaterials at phonatory frequencies.     

Bifurcations in excised larynx experiments

Bifurcation analysis was applied to vocal fold vibration in excised larynx experiments. Phonation onset and vocal instabilities were studied in a parameter plane spanned by subglottal pressure and asymmetry of either vocal fold adduction or elongation. Various phonatory regimes were observed, including single vocal fold oscillations. Selected spectra demonstrated correspondence between these regimes and vocal registers noted in the literature. To illustrate the regions spanned by the various phonatory regimes, two-dimensional bifurcation diagrams were generated. Many instabilities or bifurcations were noted in the regions of coexistence, i.e., regions in which the phonatory regimes overlap. Bifurcations were illustrated with spectrograms and fundamental frequency contours. Where possible, results from these studies were related to clinical observations.     

Laryngeal function and vocal fatigue after prolonged reading in individuals with unilateral vocal fold paralysis

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of prolonged loud reading, intended to induce fatigue, on vocal function in adults with unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). Subjects were 20 adults, 37–60 years old, with UVFP secondary to recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. Subjective ratings and instrumental measures of vocal function were obtained before and after reading. Statistical analysis revealed subjects rated their vocal quality and physical effort for voicing more severely following prolonged loud reading, whereas expert raters did not detect a significant perceptual difference in vocal quality. Reading fundamental frequency (Fo) was significantly increased following prolonged loud reading, as were mean airflow rates at all pitch conditions. Maximum phonation times for comfort and low pitches significantly decreased during posttests. Multiple regression analyses revealed significant associations between ratings of posttest physical effort and select posttest measures. Interpretation of results indicates the prolonged loud reading task was successful in vocally fatiguing most of the UVFP subjects. Key physiologic correlates of vocal fatigue, in individuals with UVFP, include further reduction of glottic efficiency, resulting in decreased regulation of glottic airflow and a temporary destabilization of speaking fundamental frequency.     

An evaluation of the effects of three laryngeal lubricants on phonation threshold pressure (PTP)

Clinicians frequently offer advice to performers and voice-disordered patients aimed ostensibly to manipulate the water content and/or viscosity of the mucus blanket covering the vocal folds. To evaluate the relative effects of three potential laryngeal lubricants on phonatory function (ie, water, Mannitol--an osmotic agent, and Entertainer's Secret Throat Relief (Kli Corp., Carmel, IN)--a glycerin-based product), phonation threshold pressure (PTP) was measured in 18 healthy, vocally normal female participants twice before (baseline) and then four times after 2 ml of each substance were nebulized. PTP is the minimum subglottal pressure required to initiate vocal fold oscillation, and the lowering of PTP is assumed to correspond to physiologically more efficient phonation and reduced phonatory effort. Over a 3-week period, participants were tested on three separate occasions (at 1-week intervals). On each occasion, a different nebulized treatment was administered. PTP for both comfortable and high fundamental frequency productions was measured using an oral pressure-flow system (Perci-Sars, MicroTronics Corp., Chapel Hill, NC). Analysis of the results revealed that Mannitol, an agent that encourages osmotic water flux to the luminal airway surface, lowered PTP immediately after its administration (ie, p = 0.071, for high-pitched productions only). However, the duration of its PTP lowering effect was less than 20 minutes. The other two substances did not demonstrate any significant postadministration effect on PTP.     

Variations in adductor spasmodic dysphonia:Acoustic evidence

Acoustic analysis was used to gain information about the normal, aswell as the abnormal acoustic events associated with adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD). This analysis was completed to determine whether specific acoustic events could be used to differentiate the voice of individuals with ADSD from those with normal voice. A group comparison between 14 women diagnosed with ADSD and 14 women (age-matched) with no evidence of vocal pathology or vocal dysfunction was completed. Phonatory breaks, aperiodicity, and frequency shifts, acoustic parameters previously identified in ADSD, were found throughout sustained vowel productions. The duration of the phonatory breaks and aperiodic segments was calculated and the amount of frequency shift was determined. The location of each acoustic event was marked relative to the onset of the vowel production. The subjects with ADSD presented with normal phonation and various amounts of each of the three acoustic parameters. Aperiodic segments primarily characterized the phonation of ADSD, followed by frequency shifts and phonatory breaks. The location of each of these acoustic events was within the midportion of the vowel production. The advantages of segmenting the acoustic waveform into these measures and separating the spasmodic events from normal phonation when examining laryngeal motor control of spasmodic dysphonics is discussed     

Deviant Vocal Fold Vibration as Observed During Videokymography: The Effect on Voice Quality

Videokymographic images of deviant or irregular vocal fold vibration, including diplophonia, the transition from falsetto to modal voice, irregular vibration onset and offset, and phonation following partial laryngectomy were compared with the synchronously recorded acoustic speech signals. A clear relation was shown between videokymographic image sequences and acoustic speech signals, and the effect of irregular or incomplete vocal fold vibration patterns was recognized in the amount of perceived breathiness and roughness and by the harmonics-to-noise ratio in the speech signal. Mechanisms causing roughness are the presence of mucus, phase differences between the left and right vocal fold, and short-term frequency and amplitude modulation. It can be concluded that the use of simultaneously recorded videokymographic image sequences and speech signals contributes to the understanding of the effect of irregular vocal fold vibration on voice quality.     

A lumped mucosal wave model of the vocal folds revisited: recent extensions and oscillation hysteresis

This paper examines an updated version of a lumped mucosal wave model of the vocal fold oscillation during phonation. Threshold values of the subglottal pressure and the mean (DC) glottal airflow for the oscillation onset are determined. Depending on the nonlinear characteristics of the model, an oscillation hysteresis phenomenon may occur, with different values for the oscillation onset and offset threshold. The threshold values depend on the oscillation frequency, but the occurrence of the hysteresis is independent of it. The results are tested against pressure data collected from a mechanical replica of the vocal folds, and oral airflow data collected from speakers producing intervocalic /h/. In the human speech data, observed differences between voice onset and offset may be attributed to variations in voice pitch, with a very small or inexistent hysteresis phenomenon.