Aerodynamic and Acoustic Voice Measures Before and After an Acute Public Speaking Stressor

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 3311-3325
Author(s):  
Brittany L. Perrine ◽  
Ronald C. Scherer

Purpose The goal of this study was to determine if differences in stress system activation lead to changes in speaking fundamental frequency, average oral airflow, and estimated subglottal pressure before and after an acute, psychosocial stressor. Method Eighteen vocally healthy adult females experienced the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to activate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. The TSST includes public speaking and performing mental arithmetic in front of an audience. At seven time points, three before the stressor and four after the stressor, the participants produced /pa/ repetitions, read the Rainbow Passage, and provided a saliva sample. Measures included (a) salivary cortisol level, (b) oral airflow, (c) estimated subglottal pressure, and (d) speaking fundamental frequency from the second sentence of the Rainbow Passage. Results Ten of the 18 participants experienced a hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response to stress as indicated by a 2.5-nmol/L increase in salivary cortisol from before the TSST to after the TSST. Those who experienced a response to stress had a significantly higher speaking fundamental frequency before and immediately after the stressor than later after the stressor. No other variable varied significantly due to the stressor. Conclusions This study suggests that the idiosyncratic and inconsistent voice changes reported in the literature may be explained by differences in stress system activation. In addition, laryngeal aerodynamic measures appear resilient to changes due to acute stress. Further work is needed to examine the influence of other stress systems and if these findings hold for dysphonic individuals.

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1337-1348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria Garcia-Banda ◽  
Mateu Servera ◽  
Karin Chellew ◽  
Victoria Meisel ◽  
Joana Fornes ◽  
...  

Evidence suggests that personality traits may play a significant role in individual differences in cortisol reactivity in stressful situations. In this study, cortisol responses to public speaking were examined to test hypotheses that reactivity would be positively related to openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and negatively to extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism, respectively. A sample of 75 students (56 women and 19 men) completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985), and 2 saliva samples were taken before and after the stressor, and another 2 samples at similar times on a control day. Results revealed that conscientiousness was associated with an enhanced cortisol response to stress, while psychoticism was correlated with a blunted response.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio J. Ballestas ◽  
Samir A. Ballestas ◽  
Rocio Cuello

Introducción: La glotoplastia de Wendler es la técnica que en la actualidad ofrece mejores resultados entre los diferentes tipos de cirugías para la feminización de la voz. Objetivo: Describir nuestra experiencia con la Glotoplastia de Wendler durante el proceso de feminización de la voz de mujeres transgénero. Diseño: Pseudoexperimental (antes-después) Materiales y Métodos: 36 pacientes transexuales en proceso de transformación de hombre a mujer se sometieron a cirugía y rehabilitación con terapias de voz con el equipo de VOICEFEM - Voice Feminization Colombia. La técnica utilizada consiste en la creación de una sinequia de las cuerdas vocales (CCVV) previa desepitelización de la cara interna del tercio anterior de las mismas, 2 puntos de sutura con Vicryl 4/0 y vaporización con electrocauterio en la región lateral de la cara superior de las CCVV y utilización de goma biológica en la sinequia creada. La medición de la frecuencia fundamental, el tiempo máximo de fonación, y la realización del cuestionario TSEQ, se llevaron a cabo antes y después de la cirugía. Resultados: Se obtuvo un aumento de la Frecuencia fundamental promedio de 112Hz(P<0.05) a los 6 meses posteriores al procedimiento quirúrgico y una disminución de cerca de 30 puntos en los resultados del cuestionario TSEQ. Conclusión: La glotoplastia de Wendler, llevada a cabo por cirujanos con experiencia en este campo, ofrece resultados favorables con aumentos significativos de la frecuencia fundamental a mediano plazo y debe estar necesariamente asociada al manejo postquirúrgico con terapias de voz, para obtener el desenlace óptimo esperado.Introduction: Wendler’s Glottoplasty is the technique that offers the best resultsamong the different types of voice feminization surgeries. Male to Female Transgender patients have in this technique the last step for their successful transformation. Objective: To describe our experience in carrying out Wendler’s glottoplasty during the process of feminization of the voice of transgender women. Design: Pseudoexperimental (before-after) study. Materials and methods: In 36 Male to Female Transgender patients, Wendler’s glottoplasty was conducted by VOICEFEM - Voice Feminization Colombia’s team, with further speech therapy rehabilitation. This technique consists of the creation of a synechia of the vocal cords which is carried out after the de-epithelization of the vocal cords on the inner face of its anterior third, 2 stitches with Vicryl 4/0 and vaporization with electrocautery in the lateral region of vocal cords upper face, and the use of biological glue in the created synechia. The measurement of the Fundamental Frequency, Maximum Phonation time, and the completion of the TSEQ questionnaire were carried out before and after the surgery. Results: There was an increase of 112 Hz in the average of Fundamental Frequency(P<0.05) 6 months after the surgery, and a decrease of approximately 30 points in the TSEQ questionnaire results. Conclusion: Wendler’s Glottoplasty conducted by an expert surgeon, provides positive results with a significant increase for fundamental frequency in the medium term, and it is imperative to do also voice therapy rehabilitation posterior to the procedure in order to obtain the expected optimal outcome.


1994 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
J F Sheridan ◽  
C Dobbs ◽  
D Brown ◽  
B Zwilling

The mammalian response to stress involves the release of soluble products from the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Cells of the immune system respond to many of the hormones, neurotransmitters, and neuropeptides through specific receptors. The function of the immune system is critical in the mammalian response to infectious disease. A growing body of evidence identifies stress as a cofactor in infectious disease susceptibility and outcomes. It has been suggested that effects of stress on the immune system may mediate the relationship between stress and infectious disease. This article reviews recent psychoneuroimmunology literature exploring the effects of stress on the pathogenesis of, and immune response to, infectious disease in mammals.


1997 ◽  
Vol 106 (7) ◽  
pp. 533-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M. Zeitels ◽  
Glenn W. Bunting ◽  
Robert E. Hillman ◽  
Traci Vaughn

Reinke's edema (RE) has been associated typically with smoking and sometimes with vocal abuse, but aspects of the pathophysiology of RE remain unclear. To gain new insights into phonatory mechanisms associated with RE pathophysiology, weused an integrated battery of objective vocal function tests to analyze 20 patients (19 women) who underwent phonomicrosurgical resection. Preoperative stroboscopic examinations demonstrated that the superficial lamina propria is distended primarily on the superior vocal fold surface. Acoustically, these individuals have an abnormally low average speaking fundamental frequency (123 Hz), and they generate abnormally high average subglottal pressures (9.7 cm H20). The presence of elevated aerodynamic driving pressures reflects difficulties in producing vocal fold vibration that are most likely the result of mass loading associated with RE, and possibly vocal hyperfunction. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that in the environment of chronic glottal mucositis secondary to smoking and reflux, the cephalad force on the vocal folds by the subglottal driving pressure contributes to the superior distention of the superficial lamina propria. Surgical reduction of the volume of the superficial lamina propria resulted in a significant elevation in fundamental frequency (154 Hz) and improvement in perturbation measures. In almost all instances, both the clinician and the patient perceived the voice as improved. However, these patients continued to generate elevated subglottal pressure (probably a sign of persistent hyperfunction) that was accompanied by visually observed supraglottal strain despite the normalsized vocal folds. This finding suggests that persistent hyperfunctional vocal behaviors may contribute to postsurgical RE recurrence if therapeutic strategies are not instituted to modify such behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Glauco De Cunto Carelli Taets ◽  
Ramon Werner Heringer Gutierrez ◽  
Leila Brito Bergold ◽  
Luana Silva Monteiro

Although mental disorders are common among university students, the majority of students with mental health issues do not seek out treatment during their academic life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a novel group approach- choir singing, and its potential impact on stress, via salivary cortisol levels and self-reported stress levels in university students during 4 sessions of choir singing. It was based on a quasi-experimental research conducted with 25 Brazilian university students. Each choir singing session lasted 60 minutes. A question was asked before and after the intervention: what is the level of your stress? Salivary cortisol was collected before and after the intervention. After the choir singing intervention, there was  a statistically significant reduction in self-reported stress (p<0.0001) and salivary cortisol levels (p<0.0001). This research suggests that choir singing can reduce the self-reported stress of university students after 4 weeks of follow-up with ∆= 45.83% and salivary cortisol levels in the first week with ∆= 3.57%.


1970 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 418-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Weinberg ◽  
Marsha Zlatin

Spontaneous speech samples of 27 children with trisomy-21 type Down’s syndrome and 66 normal children were tape-recorded and analyzed for mean fundamental frequency, standard deviation, and range. Results indicate that the mean speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) level for the sample of children with mongolism was significantly higher than the mean SFF level for the control sample. Approximately 50% of the children with mongolism had mean SFF levels exceeding the highest mean SFF level of their matched controls. In only two cases did the mean SFF for a child with mongolism fall below the mean SFF level for control children of the same age and sex. No child with mongolism exhibited a mean SFF level below the lowest mean SFF for any control subject. The subject in question is the clinical observation that children with mongolism typically have low voice fundamental frequency levels.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary J. Sandage ◽  
Laura W. Plexico ◽  
Amy Schiwitz

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