Habitual Pitch Research Articles

Impact of Face Masks on Acoustic Measures in Patients with Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders and Normal Speakers

Purpose: Wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a very important hygiene measure to block or prevent respiratory droplets and infections. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of wearing face masks on the acoustical measurement of voice and speech in patients with hyperfunctional voice disorders, and to present guidelines for wearing a mask when evaluating voice and speech.Methods: A total of 20 patients with hyperfunctional voice disorders who diagnosed with vocal nodules, muscle tension dysphonia, and adductor spasmodic dysphonia (14 females, 6 males, age=30.55±8.24) and age-and gender-matched 20 healthy adults (15 females, 5 males, age=27.31±7.52) were enrolled. All participants completed three speech tasks (sustained /a/vowel, CAPEV-3 all voiced sentence, and the ‘Kaeul’ standard passage- 2nd sentence) with their habitual pitch and loudness among the different mask conditions (No mask, surgical, and KF94). Acoustic analysis including perturbation and cepstral & spectral parameters was conducted with MDVP and ADSV.Results: For the healthy speakers, there were significantly lower in jitter (%), shimmer (%), and noise-to-harmonic (NHR) in no mask condition than in mask conditions, while there was no significantly different in perturbation measures (F0, jitter (%), shimmer (%), and NHR for patients. Vocal intensity was significantly reduced in mask-wearing conditions either surgical or KF94 mask with all speech tasks except sustained /a/ vowel phonation for patients. Cepstral peak prominence (CPP) was not significantly different among the different mask conditions in sustained /a/ vowel phonation and 3rd CAPEV sentence (all voiced sentence) in all groups. Both healthy speakers and patients showed significantly lower L/H ratio values in the no mask condition.Conclusions: Overall, in current study, wearing a mask or the type of face mask did not change time-based and cepstral acoustic parameters, while a spectral measure such as L/H ratio was significantly increased in mask-wearing conditions in patients with hyperfunctional voice disorders. These findings suggest that wearing either surgical or KF 94 masks could be a safe and relevant choice for acoustic perturbation and cepstral measures with /a/ vowel in hyperfunctional dysphonia.

Relationship Between Aerodynamic Measurement of Maximum Phonation Time With Acoustic Analysis and the Effects of Sex and Dysphonia Type.

This study set out to uncover the correlation between maximum phonation time (MPT) with acoustic and cepstral analysis in the dysphonic and control groups, considering the effects of sex and dysphonia type. For this cross-sectional study, a sample of 179 attendees (141 dysphonic and 38 control) were randomly selected and requested to sustain the vowel /a/ as long as they could with their habitual pitch and loudness. Reading standard sentences and conversational connected speech tasks were obtained too. Using Praat, the MPT, jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio, cepstral peak prominence (CPP), and smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) were calculated in the target vocal tasks. There was a very low to low significant correlation (r=0.00-0.50) between MPT amounts and acoustic analysis in the dysphonic group (P < 0.05), except for between MPT with shimmer (P > 0.05). In contrast, findings showed no significant correlation between MPT and acoustic analysis in the control group, not even separated by sex (P > 0.05). There was a very low to low correlation between MPT amounts and acoustic analysis in the male dysphonic group (P < 0.05), except for the MPT with shimmer (P > 0.05). There was no significant correlation between MPT and acoustic analysis in the female dysphonic group (P > 0.05), except for MPT with CPP (sustained vowel) (P < 0.05). Finally, very low to high correlations between MPT and some of the acoustic analysis in all the different dysphonia types were observed (P < 0.05). MPT contains some information about the acoustic features of the dysphonic voice, specifically the CPP and smoothed cepstral peak prominence. The data suggested that the observed relationship between MPT and the acoustic analysis has the capacity to be considered for the development of new multiparametric tests of voice assessment in dysphonia, regarding the sex and dysphonia type.

Videokymographic index of glottic function: an analysis of diagnostic accuracy.

To develop the Videokymographic Index of Glottic Function (VIGF), a composite indicator from digital videokymography parameters, captured by high-speed videolaryngoscopy exams of women with and without laryngeal alterations of behavioral etiology. The sample consisted of 92 women aged between 18 and 45 years. Fifty-five (55) women with behavioral dysphonia, presenting with laryngeal and voice alterations, and thirty-seven (37) women without any laryngeal and voice alterations. Voice evaluation was performed by consensus via an auditory-perceptual analysis of the sustained vowel /a/ at a habitual pitch and loudness. Voice classification was obtained by means of a general degree of dysphonia, where G0 indicated neutral voice quality and G1 to G3 indicated altered voice quality. Laryngeal images were captured via digital videokymography analysis of a sustained vowel /i/ at a habitual pitch and loudness. The VIGF was based on the midpoint of the glottal region for analysis. Logistic regression was performed using the MINITAB 19 program. Logistic regression was composed of two stages: Stage 1 consisted of the analysis of all variables, where the maximum opening and closed quotient variables showed statistical significance (p-value <0.05) and the model was well adjusted according to the Hosmer-Lemeshow test (p-value=0.794). Stage 2 consisted of the re-analysis of the selected variables, also showing a well-adjusted model (p-value=0.198). The VIGF was defined as follows: VIGF=e^(8.1318-0.2941AbMax-0.0703FechGlo)/1+e^(8.1318-0.2941AbMax-0.0703FechGlo). The VIGF demonstrated a cut-off value equal to 0.71. The probability of success was 81.5%, sensitivity 76.4%, and specificity 89.2%.

Índice videoquimográfico da função glótica: análise da precisão diagnóstica

ABSTRACT Purpose To develop the Videokymographic Index of Glottic Function (VIGF), a composite indicator from digital videokymography parameters, captured by high-speed videolaryngoscopy exams of women with and without laryngeal alterations of behavioral etiology. Methods The sample consisted of 92 women aged between 18 and 45 years. Fifty-five (55) women with behavioral dysphonia, presenting with laryngeal and voice alterations, and thirty-seven (37) women without any laryngeal and voice alterations. Voice evaluation was performed by consensus via an auditory-perceptual analysis of the sustained vowel /a/ at a habitual pitch and loudness. Voice classification was obtained by means of a general degree of dysphonia, where G0 indicated neutral voice quality and G1 to G3 indicated altered voice quality. Laryngeal images were captured via digital videokymography analysis of a sustained vowel /i/ at a habitual pitch and loudness. The VIGF was based on the midpoint of the glottal region for analysis. Logistic regression was performed using the MINITAB 19 program. Results Logistic regression was composed of two stages: Stage 1 consisted of the analysis of all variables, where the maximum opening and closed quotient variables showed statistical significance (p-value &lt;0.05) and the model was well adjusted according to the Hosmer-Lemeshow test (p-value=0.794). Stage 2 consisted of the re-analysis of the selected variables, also showing a well-adjusted model (p-value=0.198). The VIGF was defined as follows: VIGF=e^(8.1318-0.2941AbMax-0.0703FechGlo)/1+e^(8.1318-0.2941AbMax-0.0703FechGlo). Conclusion The VIGF demonstrated a cut-off value equal to 0.71. The probability of success was 81.5%, sensitivity 76.4%, and specificity 89.2%.

The Key to Singing Off-Key: The Trained Singer and Pitch Perception Distortion

Pitch perception distortion (PPD) is a novel term describing a phenomenon in which an amplified, accompanied singer's perception of their sung pitch relative to band or accompaniment becomes ambiguous, leading to one of two conditions: a) the singer believes they are out of tune with the accompaniment, but are in tune as perceived by a listener, or b) the singer believes they are in tune with the accompaniment, but are not. This pilot study aims to investigate the existence and incidence of PPD among amplified, accompanied performers and identify associated variables. 115 singers were recruited to participate in an online survey, which collected information on musical training, performance environment, and PPD experience. Reported PPD incidence was 68%, with 92% of respondents indicating that PPD occurred rarely. The factors reported as most associated with PPD experiences included loud stage volume, poor song familiarity, singing outside one's habitual pitch range, and singing loudly. Contrary to previous studies and our hypotheses, no association was found between modality of auditory feedback (e.g., in-ears versus floor monitors) and incidence of PPD. Additionally, higher levels of training were found to be associated with higher incidence of PPD. The reported incidence supports that PPD exists beyond chance and anecdotal experience. In light of the highly trained sample, the data suggest that pitch accuracy in accompanied, amplified performance may be more associated with aural environment-specifically loud stage volume-and a highly trained singer's tuning strategy in response to that environment rather than a singer's mastery of vocal intonation skills in isolation. Loud stage volume was implicated as a primary factor associated with PPD, which may be related to the stapedius reflex. Future investigations will target attempted elicitation of PPD in trained singers after establishing baseline auditory reflex thresholds and objective measurements of intonation accuracy.

Unsedated Office-Based Blue Laser Therapy in Female Patients With Reinke's Edema: A Retrospective Review of 8 Cases

To report on the outcomes of unsedated blue laser therapy in female patients with Reinke's edema. Retrospective chart review. A retrospective chart review of female patients undergoing unsedated office-based blue laser treatment of Reinke's edema between February 2020 and March 2022 at the Hamdan Voice and Swallowing Unit at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Beirut, was conducted. Patients were assessed before and after the procedure with a follow-up interval of 3-6 weeks. Demographic data included age, history of smoking and grade of Reinke's edema. Voice outcome measures included the Voice Handicap Index-10 questionnaire, perceptual evaluation (GRBAS scale), acoustic analysis and maximum phonation time. Vocal fold lesions were evaluated using indirect laryngeal endoscopy. A total of eight patients were reviewed. The mean age was 59.63 ± 7.98 years. One patient was lost to follow-up. We report on a total of 10 Reinke's edema lesions treated with the blue laser. There was a significant decrease in the mean VHI-10 score (14.86 ± 5.84-6.71 ± 7.32; P < 0.01) as well as in the means of three perceptual evaluation parameters (G, R, B; P < 0.05). There was also a nonstatistically significant increase in the mean fundamental frequency and habitual pitch. Laryngeal examination showed complete regression in 50% of the lesions, and partial regression in the remaining 50%. Office-based blue laser treatment of Reinke's edema under local anesthesia can be considered an effective treatment modality as evidenced by improvement in post-procedure voice outcome measures.

Acoustic Voice Analysis during Phonation Onset, Measured from High-Speed Videoendoscopy in Connected Speech

Adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD) is a neurological voice disorder, which affects the control of intrinsic muscles of the larynx during speech. Our previous research has shown that high-speed videoendoscopy (HSV) can be used to measure the glottal attack time for patients with AdSD during connected speech. This study builds upon that to analyze the acoustic signal during the phonation onset and prephonatory adjustments. The phonation onset events are quantified using the HSV data that were obtained simultaneously with the acoustic data. We analyze the power and energy waveform of the acoustic signal during vocal folds’ first contact, first oscillation, and transitory behaviors, extracted from high-temporal resolution HSV data. The data were obtained from five patients with AdSD and five vocally normal participants. The data were recorded while the participant produced: 2 productions of vowel /i/ at habitual pitch and loudness, 2 with a soft glottal attack and 2 with a hard glottal attack, six CAPE-V sentences, and the “Rainbow Passage.” The HSV system included a monochrome high-speed camera coupled with a flexible nasolaryngoscope. The results of this study could assist for more accurate clinical management of adductor spasmodic dysphonia.

Presbylarynx, Functional Voice Disorders, Muscle Tension Dysphonia

Presbylarynx refers to age-related structural changes of the vocal folds that include muscle atrophy, reduced neuromuscular control, loss of superficial lamina propria layer, and reduced pliability. The changes result in thin and bowed vocal folds, increased vocal effort requirements, breathy voice, change in habitual pitch, and strain. The primary treatment options are voice therapy focused on strengthening breath support and the intrinsic muscles of the larynx, and optimization of resonance; injection augmentation of the vocal folds; and type I thyroplasty. Functional dysphonia is defined as change in voice quality in the absence of structural or neurological abnormalities of the larynx. Muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) is a subtype of functional voice disorders and involves laryngeal muscle tension imbalance due to excessive or dysregulated activation resulting often in strained or breathy voice. MTD can be divided into primary (psychological etiology or vocal misuse) and secondary (compensatory for organic laryngeal pathology). The mainstay of treatment for MTD is voice therapy, along with medical or surgical treatment of the underlying vocal pathology in secondary MTD. Mutational falsetto, or puberphonia, is a functional voice disorder where a high-pitched, pre-adolescent voice fails to transition to the lower pitch of adulthood. This review contains 5 figures, 7 tables, 4 videos and 10 references Key Words: Presbylarynx, Injection augmentation, Type I thyroplasty, Primary muscle tension dysphonia, Secondary muscle tension dysphonia, Muscle tension patterns, Manual circumlaryngeal therapy, Functional dysphonia, Mutational falsetto

Effect of clear speech intervention program on speech intelligibility in persons with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: A pilot study

Purpose: This preliminary study was designed to assess the feasibility of Clear Speech Intervention Program (CSIP) on improving speech intelligibility of persons with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD). Clear Speech is a behavioural approach which focuses on improving speech intelligibility of persons with PD within a relatively short frame of time. Method: A single group pretest-posttest design was used to assess the effectiveness of CSIP. Fifteen adults diagnosed with PD participated in 8 sessions of CSIP with each session lasting 45–50 minutes over a period of 4 weeks in South Korea. All the data were collected in a quiet room with an ambient noise level of equal to or less than 40 dB SPL. Data on acoustical/aerodynamic, auditory-perceptual, and self-perceptual measures were obtained pre- and post-intervention. The Phonatory Aerodynamic System (PAS) was used to analyse acoustical/aerodynamic data. Result: The acoustical/aerodynamic assessment revealed statistically significant (p < 0.01) improvements in habitual pitch, pitch range, speaking rate, and number of respirations. In the auditory-perceptual assessment, statistically significant (p < 0.01) improvements were observed in overall speech intelligibility, tone, intonation, intensity, and articulation. Medium to large effect sizes were observed for significant results. The Pearson correlation analysis showed significant (p < 0.01) and strong correlation between articulation and speech intelligibility. Conclusion: The preliminary data has provided promising results and warrants future large-scale studies with suitable controls. Additionally, future research must focus on investigating long term effects of the intervention.

Voice quality and voice dynamics data

Acoustic and perceptual auditory analysis procedures present themselves as clinical tools which give support to the understanding of the speech features of hearing impaired children (HIC). Voice quality stems from the overlapped action of the larynx, the supralaryngeal vocal tract and the level of muscular tension throughout the speech flow. Nonetheless, voice dynamics is characterized by frequency, duration and intensity variations. This research aimed at investigating acoustic and perceptive correlates of a HIC child’s voice and dynamic quality. The child, who has a cochlear implanted, had his speech samples collected during speech therapy sessions. The male subject (R), who uses a unilateral cochlear implant (UCI), had his speech production samples recorded when he was 5 (05 samples) and 6 years old (05 samples), and which were later tagged Cut A and Cut B respectively. The recorded corpus was acoustically analyzed through the use of the SGEXpressionEvaluator script (Barbosa, 2009) running on the free software Praat v10. The measures which were automatically extracted by the script correspond to the fundamental frequency –f0, first f0 derivative, intensity, spectral fall and long term spectrum. The perceptual auditory analysis of the voice quality was based on the VPAS-PB script (Camargo e Madureira, 2008). The perceptual auditory judgments and the acoustic measures were subjected to statistical analysis procedures. At first the, the data (perceptual and acoustic) were separately analyzed through a hierarchical and agglomerative cluster analysis. Subsequently, they were examined together through the principal component analysis. Results revealed the existence of correspondence between the acoustic and perceptual auditory data. In the audio recorded data samples from Cut B (one year after the first one) greater variability tendencies in acoustic measures of f0 could be observed associated with laryngeal hyper function at the perceptual level plus silent pauses and the reduction of speech rate. From the integrated acoustic and perceptual analysis it was possible to keep a record of the child’s oral language development process. The data analysis in this study allowed the observation of several interaction levels between the vocal tract (lip movement extension adjusts, tongue and jaw, associated with velopharyngeal adjusts and muscular tension from the larynx), plus the inspection of speech dynamics elements (habitual pitch and speech rate) of a child’s speech who has a UCI implanted during a one-year-speech-therapy-process period. This source of information made the characterization of the child’s evolution possible, especially in terms of perceptual auditory analysis descriptions being phonetically motivated by the speech dynamics quality.

Akustinen äänenlaatuindeksi (AVQI) äänen arvioinnissa: Alustava monitapaustutkimus äänitystason, -tilan ja äänentuottotavan vaikutuksista

Kuudesta parametrista muodostuvaa akustista äänenlaatuindeksiä (AVQI) käytetään äänihäiriöiden objektiiviseen arviointiin. Tämä tutkimus on alustava selvitys siitä, paljonko AVQI:in vaikuttavat äänitystaso, ympäristön taustakohina, puhujan puhetapa ja sukupuoli silloin, kun käytetään suositeltua äänityslaitteistoa.&#x0D; Näytteet tallennettiin kahdelta terveääniseltä (mies ja nainen) sekä äänihuulihalvauksesta (mies) ja toiminnallisesta äänihäiriöstä (nainen) kärsineeltä henkilöltä. Terveäänisten puhujien näytteet äänitettiin vaimennetussa studiossa. He lukivat lyhyen tekstin ja äänsivät [a:]-vokaalia 5 sekuntia itselleen tavanomaisella, sekä hiljaisella, voimakkaalla ja korkealla äänellä. Huonon äänitystason ja -ympäristön vaikutusten tarkastelua varten ääninäytteet soitettiin yksitiekaiuttimen kautta ja äänitettiin uudelleen studiossa (taustakohinataso 17,3 dBA) ja toimisto-olosuhteissa (taustakohinataso 34,4 dBA) kahdella äänitystasolla. Kaiuttimen kautta soitetuista näytteistä laskettiin AVQI.&#x0D; Tulosten mukaan äänitystaso, -tila ja sukupuoli vaikuttivat vain vähän AVQI-lukuun ja sen parametreihin. Eniten AVQI-lukua nosti häiriöinen äänenlaatu. Myös puhetapa vaikutti: hiljaisesti tuotetuissa ääninäytteissä terveääniset saivat äänihäiriöille tyypillisiä arvoja. AVQI:a käytettäessä on tärkeää kontrolloida, että puhujat tuottavat ääninäytteet itselleen tavanomaisella puhevoimakkuudella ja -korkeudella. Tämä on oleellista etenkin toistomittauksissa.

Second-language learners of French do not acquire habitual pitch values

Järvinen et al. (2013) find that native Finnish speakers have higher pitch in English, suggesting that habitual pitch can be learned during second language acquisition. The mean F0 of French may be higher than that of English (Pépiot 2014), and this study investigates whether native speakers of American English who are L2 learners of French show different mean F0 in their second language compared to their first, and whether this is affected by L2 proficiency. The study compared the average F0 in sentences spoken by 6 female L2 French speakers (3 high proficiency, 3 low proficiency) to their English F0, and to the F0 of 6 female L1 French speakers. The L2 French speakers' F0 showed no significant difference from their L1 English, but L1 French F0 was significantly higher than both English and L2 French (p &amp;lt; 0.01 in both cases). There was also no significant difference in F0 between the high-proficiency and low-proficiency L2 French speakers. This indicates that English-speaking L2 learners do not acquire the higher habitual pitch values of French, even as proficiency increases. A comparison with Järvinen et al's findings suggests that adaptation to L2 pitch may not be automatic and may vary by language.

Tessa: A Novel MATLAB Program for Automated Tessitura Analysis

Tessitura-the habitual pitch range of a musical piece or role-is widely accepted as a significant factor in determining whether a singer should perform a given piece or role. However, attempts to quantify tessitura have historically relied on laborious hand calculations. The current study introduces a novel MATLAB program ("Tessa") that automates tessitura analysis of digital sheet music in the MusicXML format. This program will allow voice teachers and singing voice specialists to assess the appropriateness of musical pieces or roles for their students and clients. Tessa converts sheet music in the open-source MusicXML (MXL or XML) format to a MATLAB-compatible structure array (MAT). Once converted, the program extracts pitch, duration, and lyric information from the structure file, then saves relevant arrays to the user's computer. Finally, Tessa performs analyses on the piece's tessitura data, including histogram, box plot, and descriptive statistical analyses. Variables such as tempo, score part number, and the piece's title are automatically saved in order to facilitate repeated analyses. A sample analysis of Franz Schubert's song cycle Winterreise, D.911 is presented, with specific reference to the songs "3. Gefrorne Tränen" and "4. Erstarrung" as examples of pieces with markedly different tessituras-and, consequently, markedly different levels of vocal demand. Tessa is hosted on a GitHub repository (https://github.com/Allerseelen/Tessa) and is intended for open-source use and modification under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Voice teachers, singing voice specialists, and musicians may compare Tessa's analyses with voice range profiles or other assessment tools in order to evaluate repertoire and plan pacing strategies for extended performances.

Unsedated Office-Based Thulium Laser Therapy in Patients With Reinke's Edema

To report the outcome of unsedated office based Thulium laser therapy for Reinke's edema. A retrospective chart review of patients operated between March 2017 and November 2018 was conducted. Twelve patients were included, two of whom had two procedures performed. Demographic data included age, gender, smoking status, and grade of Reinke's edema. Outcome measures included Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI), perceptual evaluation, extent of disease regression, acoustic analysis, and maximal phonation time. Twelve patients were enrolled in this study, one of whom was lost for follow-up. There were eight females and three males. The mean age was 51.27 ± 9.12 years. Endoscopic evaluation 6-12 weeks after surgery revealed complete and partial regression of disease in three and eight patients, respectively. There was a significant improvement in the mean score of VHI-10 (15.00 ± 9.45 vs 3.07 ± 3.81) and the mean score of GRABS parameters following surgery (P < 0.05). The mean habitual pitch increased from 125.11 ± 28.48 Hz to 155.86 ± 55.14 Hz (P=0.070). There was improvement in the mean jitter and shimmer but none reached a statistical significance. There was no significant change in the mean Maximum phonation time (MPT) scores before and after surgery. Unsedated office-based Thulium laser therapy can be considered as an alternative therapy to patients with Reinke's edema who are not willing to undergo conventional microlaryngeal surgery.

Contributions of modal and creaky voice to the perception of habitual pitch

In some languages, creaky voice is used over relatively long stretches of speech as a prosodic element, to convey emotion, and/or stylistically. A primary acoustic and perceptual cue to creaky voice quality is a low fundamental frequency. Previous research has shown that listeners can make fine-grained comparisons of speakers' habitual modal pitch, but this study focuses on how a combination of modal and nonmodal phonation affects the perception of habitual pitch. A perception experiment assesses whether listeners are more likely to rate a speaker's utterance as being holistically lower in pitch if it contains both modal and creaky voice than if it is fully modal speech. Results indicate that for female American English speakers with higher modal pitch, the inclusion of creaky voice leads listeners to rate such utterances as lower in pitch than fully modal utterances, but not for speakers with lower modal pitch. These results are consistent with studies showing that pitch perception interacts with nonmodal phonation, and they relate to previous observations that speakers may utilize nonmodal phonation to manipulate their intended habitual pitch.

Maxillary arch dimensions associated with acoustic parameters in prepubertal children.

To evaluate the association between maxillary arch dimensions and fundamental frequency and formants of voice in prepubertal subjects. Thirty-five consecutive prepubertal patients seeking orthodontic treatment were recruited (mean age = 11.41 ± 1.46 years; range, 8 to 13.7 years). Participants with a history of respiratory infection, laryngeal manipulation, dysphonia, congenital facial malformations, or history of orthodontic treatment were excluded. Dental measurements included maxillary arch length, perimeter, depth, and width. Voice parameters comprising fundamental frequency (f0_sustained), Habitual pitch (f0_count), Jitter, Shimmer, and different formant frequencies (F1, F2, F3, and F4) were measured using acoustic analysis prior to initiation of any orthodontic treatment. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to measure the strength of associations between different dental and voice parameters. Multiple linear regressions were computed for the predictions of different dental measurements. Arch width and arch depth had moderate significant negative correlations with f0 ( r = -0.52; P = .001 and r = -0.39; P = .022, respectively) and with habitual frequency ( r = -0.51; P = .0014 and r = -0.34; P = .04, respectively). Arch depth and arch length were significantly correlated with formant F3 and formant F4, respectively. Predictors of arch depth included frequencies of F3 vowels, with a significant regression equation ( P-value < .001; R2 = 0.49). Similarly, fundamental frequency f0 and frequencies of formant F3 vowels were predictors of arch width, with a significant regression equation ( P-value < .001; R2 = 0.37). There is a significant association between arch dimensions, particularly arch length and depth, and voice parameters. The formant most predictive of arch depth and width is the third formant, along with fundamental frequency of voice.

Poor neuro-motor tuning of the human larynx: a comparison of sung and whistled pitch imitation.

Vocal imitation is a hallmark of human communication that underlies the capacity to learn to speak and sing. Even so, poor vocal imitation abilities are surprisingly common in the general population and even expert vocalists cannot match the precision of a musical instrument. Although humans have evolved a greater degree of control over the laryngeal muscles that govern voice production, this ability may be underdeveloped compared with control over the articulatory muscles, such as the tongue and lips, volitional control of which emerged earlier in primate evolution. Human participants imitated simple melodies by either singing (i.e. producing pitch with the larynx) or whistling (i.e. producing pitch with the lips and tongue). Sung notes were systematically biased towards each individual's habitual pitch, which we hypothesize may act to conserve muscular effort. Furthermore, while participants who sung more precisely also whistled more precisely, sung imitations were less precise than whistled imitations. The laryngeal muscles that control voice production are under less precise control than the oral muscles that are involved in whistling. This imprecision may be due to the relatively recent evolution of volitional laryngeal-motor control in humans, which may be tuned just well enough for the coarse modulation of vocal-pitch in speech.

Trans Male Voice in the First Year of Testosterone Therapy: Make No Assumptions.

The purpose of this study was to prospectively examine changes in gender-related voice domain of pitch measured by fundamental frequency, function-related domains of vocal quality, range, and habitual pitch level and the self-perceptions of transmasculine people during their first year of testosterone treatment. Seven trans men received 2 voice assessments at baseline and 1 assessment at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after starting treatment. Vocal quality measures varied between and within participants but were generally within normal limits throughout the year. Mean fundamental frequency (MF0) during reading decreased, although to variable extents and rates. Phonation frequency range shifted down the scale, although it increased in some participants and decreased in others. Considering MF0 and phonation frequency range together in a measure of habitual pitch level revealed that the majority of participants spoke using an MF0 that was low within their range compared with cisgender norms. Although the trans men generally self-reported voice masculinization, it was not correlated with MF0, frequency range, or habitual pitch level at any time point or with MF0 note change from baseline to 1 year of testosterone treatment, but correlations should be interpreted with caution due to the heterogeneous responses of the 7 participants. In trans men, consideration of voice deepening in the context of objective and subjective measures of voice can reveal unique profiles and inform patient care.

Effect of Hormonal Replacement Therapy on Voice

This study aimed to investigate the effect of hormonal therapy (HRT) on voice in a group of menopausal women, taking into consideration body mass index (BMI) as a confounding factor and its potential role as a substitute for HRT. A total of 53 menopausal women, 34 not on HRT and 19 on HRT, were recruited. Demographic variables included age, gender, smoking, and BMI. All subjects were asked about the presence or absence of the following symptoms: hoarseness, deepening of the voice, pitch breaks, throat clearing, dryness in the throat, and vocal fatigue. Acoustic analysis was performed, and Voice Handicap Index-10 was also completed. The mean BMI was 25.90 ± 5.39 and 25.77 ± 4.26 in patients on HRT and not on HRT, respectively. There was no statistical difference in the Voice Handicap Index-10 score and the prevalence of any of the phonatory symptoms in menopausal women not on HRT compared with menopausal women on HRT. However, menopausal women not on HRT had significantly lower habitual pitch than those on HRT (P value of 0.022). On the other hand, the jitter was significantly higher in those on HRT (P value of 0.033). Hormonal therapy has an impact on the habitual pith in menopausal women with comparable BMI. Those on HRT have a higher habitual pitch than those not on HRT.

Association Between Facial Length and Width and Fundamental Frequency

This study aimed to evaluate the association between facial width and length and fundamental frequency (F0) and habitual frequency. Prospective cross-sectional study. A total of 50 subjects (35 females;15 males) were included in this study. Lateral and posteroanterior cephalometric measurements included: facial height (N-Me); widths of the maxilla (J-J), mandible (AG-AG), and face (Zyg-Zyg); ratios J-J to AG-AG, N-Me to Zyg-Zyg, and lower face to total face heights. All subjects underwent acoustic analysis using Visi-Pitch IV. Sample was stratified according to age and gender. In the total group (mean age: 14.19±6.49 years; range 6-35 years), a significantly moderate negative correlation existed between Zyg-Zyg, J-J, and AG-AG, and F0 and habitual pitch. Similarly, N-Me moderately correlated with habitual pitch. In males, there was a significant moderate negative correlation between Zyg-Zyg and J-J, and habitual pitch, and between J-J and F0 (-0.571;p=0.026). In females, a significant moderate correlation existed between Zyg-Zyg and AG-AG, and habitual pitch, and between AG-AG and F0 (-0.347;p=0.041). In the prepubertal group (n=25), a negative moderate correlation occurred between J-J and AG-AG, N-Me and habitual frequency, and between J-J and F0 (-0.407;p=0.043). In the postpubertal group, there was a significant moderate correlation only between AG-AG and F0 (-0.403;p=0.046). Facial length correlates significantly with habitual frequency, and facial width correlates significantly with both F0 and habitual pitch. A larger sample of adult subjects is needed to substantiate this conclusion.