Time relations between cricothyroid muscle activity and the voice fundamental frequency (F0) during sinusoidal modulations of F0

1984 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. 1639-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimon Sapir ◽  
Michael D. McClean ◽  
Erich S. Luschei
1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Christine Ohlsson ◽  
Olle Brink ◽  
Anders Lofqvist

Studies of vocal behavior under natural conditions require suitable techniques for obtaining records of voice use. We describe the operation of a newly designed voice accumulator that allows registration of fundamental frequency and phonation time during a 12-hour period. The device is based on microprocessors and allows accumulation of the voice fundamental frequency within 60–600 Hz. The voice signal is picked up by a contact microphone attached to the front part of the neck. Analysis of fundamental frequency distribution and phonation time is made on a personal computer. Validation of the device shows it to provide accurate measurements of fundamental frequency, although it tends to underestimate phonation time. In a field test, the accumulator was used to analyze vocal behavior during two work-days in a group of nurses and a group of speech pathologists. Overall, the speech pathologists had a lower fundamental frequency level and higher values of phonation time than the nurses. These field results confirm the validation of the voice accumulator.


2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-17
Author(s):  
Charles R. Larson

Abstract Previous research has failed to identify precise neural mechanisms involved in auditory feedback regulation of vocalization. The goal of this research project was to improve our understanding of neural mechanisms controlling the voice. Participants were instructed to sustain a vowel or repeat phrases during which perturbations in voice pitch or loudness feedback were presented. Voice signal averaging, neuroimaging, laryngeal electromyography, and cortical event-related potential techniques were used to measure vocal and neural responses to perturbed feedback. Pitch- and loudness-shifted voice feedback triggers small automatic corrective responses in voice fundamental frequency and amplitude during vowel or speech production. Larger responses during speech suggest task modulation of these responses. Larger responses were also recorded in individuals with Parkinson's disease and children with autism than in normal controls. Neural recording techniques revealed cortical activation during these responses. Cortical mechanisms are involved in generating corrective vocal responses to perturbations in voice auditory feedback. This system helps control the voice during speech and dynamically adjusts responses to meet vocal goals. Abnormally large responses in individuals with Parkinson's disease and autism suggest that the audio-vocal mechanisms just described may be involved in the speech and vocalizations of these individuals as well.


2008 ◽  
Vol 117 (12) ◽  
pp. 876-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinji Deguchi ◽  
Kazutaka Kawashima ◽  
Seiichi Washio

Objectives: The effect of artificially altered transglottal pressures on the voice fundamental frequency (F0) is known to be associated with vocal fold stiffness. Its measurement, though useful as a potential diagnostic tool for noncontact assessment of vocal fold stiffness, often requires manual and painstaking determination of an unstable F0 of voice. Here, we provide a computer-aided technique that enables one to carry out the determination easily and accurately. Methods: Human subjects vocalized in accordance with a series of reference sounds from a speaker controlled by a computer. Transglottal pressures were altered by means of a valve embedded in a mouthpiece. Time-varying vocal F0 was extracted, without manual procedures, from a specific range of the voice spectrum determined on the basis of the controlled reference sounds. Results: The validity of the proposed technique was assessed for 11 healthy subjects. Fluctuating voice F0 was tracked automatically during experiments, providing the relationship between transglottal pressure change and F0 on the computer. Conclusions: The proposed technique overcomes the difficulty in automatic determination of the voice F0, which tends to be transient both in normal voice and in some types of pathological voice.


1999 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijay Parsa ◽  
Donald G. Jamieson

Perturbation analysis of sustained vowel waveforms is used routinely in the clinical evaluation of pathological voices and in monitoring patient progress during treatment. Accurate estimation of voice fundamental frequency (FO) is essential for accurate perturbation analysis. Several algorithms have been proposed for fundamental frequency extraction. To be appropriate for clinical use, a key consideration is that an FO extraction algorithm be robust to such extraneous factors as the presence of noise and modulations in voice frequency and amplitude that are commonly associated with the voice pathologies under study. This work examines the performance of seven FO algorithms, based on the average magnitude difference function (AMDF), the input autocorrelation function (AC), the autocorrelation function of the center-clipped signal (ACC), the autocorrelation function of the inverse filtered signal (IFAC), the signal cepstrum (CEP), the Harmonic Product Spectrum (HPS) of the signal, and the waveform matching function (WM) respectively. These algorithms were evaluated using sustained vowel samples collected from normal and pathological subjects. The effect of background noise and of frequency and amplitude modulations on these algorithms was also investigated, using synthetic vowel waveforms.


1975 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Shipp

Six young adult male subjects produced sustained phonation throughout their vocal frequency ranges: first, in a glissando or continuous frequency change maneuver, and second, in discrete intervals at separate trials. Measures of intrinsic and extrinsic laryngeal muscle activity and vertical laryngeal position were related to voice fundamental frequency in the two conditions. Each subject consistently positioned his larynx at a resting level when he was instructed to relax or when he was not performing experimental tasks. All larynx positions during experimental tasks were measured as deviations from this resting level. Subjects showed a close correspondence between their vertical laryngeal positions and voice frequencies—more so for the glissando maneuver than for changes in discrete frequency tasks. In general, subjects lowered their larynges from the resting position for low-frequency phonation and raised their larynges for higher fundamental frequencies. Absolute larynx position for the same frequency was quite varied both within and between subjects. Vertical laryngeal position during phonation most often was directly related to the activity of the thyrohyoid and sternothyroid muscles. Neither vertical laryngeal movement nor intrinsic laryngeal activity showed any pattern of relationship to changes between modal and falsetto voice registers.


1987 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher H. Murphy ◽  
Philip C. Doyle

Previous group research has shown that the mean voice-fundamental frequency (F0) for individuals who smoke is lower than that of age- and sex-matched nonsmokers. It is believed that this reduction in F0 is a result of edema of the vocal folds caused by tobacco smoke. This study investigated F0 changes during smoking and no-smoking periods. Data were collected before, during, and after a 40-hour period of no-smoking. Analysis of the voice recordings showed a rise in voice F0 for the two smoking subjects during the 40-hour no-smoking period. Age- and sex-matched control subjects did not show a rise in their F0 during the same tasks. Results suggest that the pitch-lowering effects of cigarette smoking may be reversed after as few as 40 hours of smoking cessation.


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