Phonation PhysiologyChapter 5

Perry C. Hanavan, AuD

Practice Labeling

Review

Question

Which non-speech function is helpful for lifting or pushing heavy objects?

A.Coughing

B.Abdominal fixation

C.Throat clearing

D.Swallowing reflex

E.All the aboveSMART Response QuestionTo set the properties right click and selectSMART Response Question Object->Properties...

Larynx: Non-Speech Functions

• Coughing

• Abdominal fixation

• Throat clearing

• Swallowing reflex

The Cough

The Cough

• Can voluntarily cough• Reflex triggered when irritant stimulates one or more

cough receptors• Receptors transmit message to cough center in brain,

telling body to cough• Cough begins with deep inhalation, at which point

opening between vocal cords at upper part of larynx (glottis) shuts, trapping air in lungs

• As diaphragm and other muscles press against lungs, vocal folds suddenly abduct, producing explosive outflow of air at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour

Question

The Cough Reflex Test is a reliable test for

A.Detecting cancer

B.Detecting reflux

C.Detecting aspiration pneumonia in stroke patients

D.Detecting vocal nodules SMART Response QuestionTo set the properties right click and selectSMART Response Question Object->Properties...

Nonspeech Laryngeal FunctionCough Reflex• Visceral afferent branch of Vagus Nerve• Response to irritant of tissue of respiratory

passageway to irritant or foreign object• Widely abducted vocal folds followed by tight

adduction of vocal folds and elevation of larynx• Smokers less sensitive to cough-inducing

irritants (which may have important medical implications)

• Reflex cough test reliably evaluated the laryngeal cough reflex and the associated risk of developing aspiration pneumonia in stroke patients. – Testing the laryngeal cough reflex may significantly

reduce morbidity, mortality, and costs in stroke patients.

(Addington et al 1999)

Abdominal Fixation

• Process of capturing air in the thorax to provide the muscles with a structure on which to push or pull– i.e., lifting heavy objects, childbirth, etc.

Clearing Throat

Swallowing Reflex

• Bolus of food triggers reflex as it passes tongue above larynx

• Larynx elevates

• Epiglottis drops down to cover aditus (opening to larynx from pharynx)

• Tight adduction of folds

Vocal Fold Functions

Laryngeal Function for Speech

• Attack– Simultaneous– Breathy– Glottal

• Termination

• Sustained phonation

• Vocal register

• Whispering

Laryngeal Function for Speech

• Attack - process of bringing folds together for phonation, requires muscles (three types):– Simultaneous - adduction and onset of exhalation occurs

together– Breathy - airflow begins before phonation “hope”, Breathy

phonation - failure to completely close folds

– Glottal- used when word begins with stressed vowel, normal process (Hard glottal attack – damaging)

• Termination - process of fold retraction (abduction)• Sustained phonation - requires maintenance of tonic

(sustained tensing) of musculature (actual phonation does not require repeated adduction and abduction)

Speech Function

Vocal Folds

• Phonation• Phonation• Fundamental• Harmonics• Habitual pitch• Optimal pitch• Average

fundamental frequency

Question

Register or pattern of phonation used in daily conversations:

A.Falsetto

B.Whistle

C.Modal

D.Vocal fry

E.WhisperSMART Response QuestionTo set the properties right click and selectSMART Response Question Object->Properties...

Vocal Register

• Vocal register - differences in mode of vibration of vocal folds– Modal register - pattern of phonation used in daily conversations– Glottal fry - (rough voice) vibrating portion flaccid, lateral portion

tensed resulting in strong medial compression with short, thick folds and low glottal pressure

– Falsetto - long and extremely thin folds– Whistle register - turbulence on edge of vocal folds– Whispering - not actually phonatory because no voicing partially

adducted and tensed to produce turbulence, strenuous and fatiguing

Modal Register

• Modal register or modal phonation refers to the pattern of phonation used in daily conversation

• Example

Vocal Fry

Glottal Fry

• Also known as pulse register or Strohbass (straw bass)

• Vocal folds vibrate between 30 and 90 Hz• Frying pan sound of eggs frying• Low subglottal pressure• Tension of the vocalis is significantly reduced

relative to modal vibration, so that the vibrating margin is flaccid and thick. The lateral portion of folds is tensed creating thick folds

• Example

Glottal Fry

Vocal Fry

Falsetto• A singing technique that produces sounds that are pitched higher than

the singer's normal range • Vocal folds lengthened and become extremely thin• expansion and separation of vocal cords, in which case, only the edges

of the vocal cord vibrate, not the entire vocal cord • used by male countertenors to sing in the alto range, before women

sang in choirs. • It is a very common technique in soul music, and has also been made

popular in heavy metal• How to sing falsetto• Falsetto Voice Phrases

Whistle Register

• Register above falsetto• (flageolet register) is the highest register

of the human voice • Up to 2500 Hz in females• Product of turbulence on the edge of the

vocal fold• Not considered a mode of vibration as

product of turbulence• Mariah Carey• Mariah Carey

Whispering

• Not a phonatory mode

• Voicing removed

• Mariah Carey

Question

Maintaining childhood pitch despite having passed through puberty…

A.Aphonia

B.Puberphonia

C. Phonia fear

D.Non-phonia SMART Response QuestionTo set the properties right click and selectSMART Response Question Object->Properties...

Puberphonia

• Maintenance of the childhood pitch despite having passed through puberty

• Puberphonia

• Other voice disorders

Gender & Age

Vocal Length Change with Age

Fundamental Frequency & Age

Vocal Intensity vs. Vocal Fold Vibration

2 Vocal Fold Intensities

Prosodic Feature of Question Form

Laryngeal Stridor

Terminology• Abdominal fixation• Bernoulli effect• Bolus• Dilate• Cough• Ventricular folds• Phonation• Vocal attack• Simultaneous vocal attack• Sustained phonation• Breathy vocal attack• Glottal attack• Ventricular attack• Hypertrophy• Laryngitis• Aphonia

• Vertical mode• Maximum phonation• Vocal fundamental

frequency• Minimum driving pressure• Glottal fry• Pulse register• Strohbase• Falsetto• Whistle register• Breathy phonation• Pressed phonation• Puberphonia• Mutation• Whispering• Intensity

• Optimal pitch• Jitter• Suprasegmental• Average fundamental

frequency• Shimmer• Prosody• Laryngeal stridor• Monopitch• Monoloud• Vocal hyperfunction• Mode of vibration• Modal register• Habitual pitch• Vocal intensity• Frequency• Pitch• Pitch range• Termination of phonation

Voice Disorders

• Voice Doctor

• Voice Disorders

• Voice Doctor

• Voice Disorders

• Functional Voice Disorder

• Disorders of the Larynx

• Cancer of the Larynx