The Relationship Between Relative Fundamental Frequency and a Kinematic Estimate of Laryngeal Stiffness in Healthy Adults

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between the acoustic measure relative fundamental frequency (RFF) and a kinematic estimate of laryngeal stiffness. Twelve healthy adults (mean age = 22.7 years, SD = 4.4; 10 women, 2 men) produced repetitions of /ifi/ while varying their vocal effort during simultaneous acoustic and video nasendoscopic recordings. RFF was determined from the last 10 voicing cycles before the voiceless obstruent (RFF offset) and the first 10 cycles of revoicing (RFF onset). A kinematic stiffness ratio was calculated for the vocal fold adductory gesture during revoicing by normalizing the maximum angular velocity by the maximum glottic angle during the voiceless obstruent. A linear mixed effect model indicated that RFF offset and onset were significant predictors of the kinematic stiffness ratios. The model accounted for 52% of the variance in the kinematic data. Individual relationships between RFF and kinematic stiffness ratios varied across participants, with at least moderate negative correlations in 83% of participants for RFF offset but only 40% of participants for RFF onset. RFF significantly predicted kinematic estimates of laryngeal stiffness in healthy speakers and has the potential to be a useful clinical indicator of laryngeal tension. Further research is needed in individuals with voice disorders.