Abstract
Previous studies have shown changes in women's behavior and physical appearance between the non-fertile and fertile phases of the menstrual cycle. It is assumed that these changes are regulated by fluctuations in sex hormone levels across the cycle. Receptors for sex hormones have been found on the vocal folds, suggesting a link between hormone levels and vocal fold function, which might cause changes in voice production. However, attempts to identify changes in voice production across the menstrual cycle have produced mixed results. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate changes in sexually dimorphic vocal characteristics and quality of women’s voices in different phases of the cycle and to compare these with users of monophasic hormonal contraception. Voice samples (vowel phonation) of 44 naturally cycling women were obtained in the menstrual, late follicular (confirmed by LH surge) and luteal phases, and in 20 hormonal contraceptive users across equivalent stages of the monthly cycle. Results showed that voices of naturally cycling women had higher minimum pitch in the late follicular phase compared with the other phases. In addition, voice intensity was at its lowest in the luteal phase. In contrast, there were no voice changes across the cycle in hormonal contraceptive users. Comparison between the two groups of women revealed that the naturally cycling group had higher minimum pitch in the fertile phase and higher harmonics to noise ratio in the menstrual phase. In general, present results support the assumption that sex hormones might have an effect on voice function. These results, coupled with mixed findings in previous studies, suggest that vocal changes in relation to hormonal fluctuation are subtle, at least during vowel production. Future studies should explore voice changes in a defined social context and with more free-flowing speech.
Highlights
Over the last two decades, there has been growing interest in various changes in women’s appearance and behavior across the menstrual cycle, especially in how the fertile period compares to other stages of the cycle
This study examined voice changes among naturally cycling women and hormonal contraception (HC) users in three phases of the menstrual cycle
As expected, there were no changes in vocal characteristics across the cycle in HC users
Summary
Over the last two decades, there has been growing interest in various changes in women’s appearance and behavior across the menstrual cycle, especially in how the fertile period compares to other stages of the cycle. Miller, Tybur & Jordan [8] reported that exotic dancers earn more money during their fertile days. This implies that men can detect subtle changes in the fertile period, and it is possible that they rely on olfactory and visual information. Previous studies showed that women’s body odour changes across the cycle, being most attractive in the fertile period [9,10,11,12]. With regard to visual ovulation cues, Roberts et al [13] reported that men chose women’s photographs taken in the fertile phase as more attractive than photographs of the same women taken in the luteal phase. Bobst and Lobmaier [14] showed that prototype faces of women in the fertile phase are more attractive
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