Triangular body-cover model of the vocal folds with coordinated activation of the five intrinsic laryngeal muscles

Poor laryngeal muscle coordination that results in abnormal glottal posturing is believed to be a primary etiologic factor in common voice disorders such as non-phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction. Abnormal activity of antagonistic laryngeal muscles is hypothesized to play a key role in the alteration of normal vocal fold biomechanics that results in the dysphonia associated with such disorders. Current low-order models of the vocal folds are unsatisfactory to test this hypothesis since they do not capture the co-contraction of antagonist laryngeal muscle pairs. To address this limitation, a self-sustained triangular body-cover model with full intrinsic muscle control is introduced. The proposed scheme shows good agreement with prior studies using finite element models, excised larynges, and clinical studies in sustained and time-varying vocal gestures. Simulations of vocal fold posturing obtained with distinct antagonistic muscle activation yield clear differences in kinematic, aerodynamic, and acoustic measures. The proposed tool is deemed sufficiently accurate and flexible for future comprehensive investigations of non-phonotraumatic vocal hyperfunction and other laryngeal motor control disorders.Fil: Alzamendi, Gabriel Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Bioingeniería y Bioinformática - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Bioingeniería y Bioinformática; ArgentinaFil: Peterson, Sean D.. University of Waterloo; CanadáFil: Erath, Byron D.. Clarkson University; Estados UnidosFil: Hillman, Robert E.. Massachusetts General Hospital; Estados UnidosFil: Zañartu, Matías. Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria.; Chil

Jaw and Order

It is well-accepted that the jaw plays an active role in influencing vowel height. The general aim of the current study is to further investigate the extent to which the jaw is active in producing consonantal distinctions, with specific focus on coronal consonants. Therefore, tongue tip and jaw positions are compared for the German coronal consonants Is, J, t, d, n, 1/, that is, consonants having the same active articulators (apical/laminal) but differing in manner of articulation. In order to test the stability of articulatory positions for each of these coronal consonants, a natural perturbation paradigm was introduced by recording two levels of vocal effort: comfortable, and loud without shouting. Tongue and jaw movements of five speakers of German were recorded by means of EMMA during /aCa/ sequences. By analyzing the tongue tip and jaw positions and their spatial variability we found that (1) the jaw's contribution to these consonants varies with manner of articulation, and (2) for all coronal consonants the positions are stable across loudness conditions except for those of the nasal. Results are discussed with respect to the tasks of the jaw, and the possible articulatory adjustments that may accompany louder speech

Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications

The International Workshop on Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications (MAVEBA) came into being in 1999 from the particularly felt need of sharing know-how, objectives and results between areas that until then seemed quite distinct such as bioengineering, medicine and singing. MAVEBA deals with all aspects concerning the study of the human voice with applications ranging from the newborn to the adult and elderly. Over the years the initial issues have grown and spread also in other fields of research such as occupational voice disorders, neurology, rehabilitation, image and video analysis. MAVEBA takes place every two years in Firenze, Italy. This edition celebrates twenty-two years of uninterrupted and successful research in the field of voice analysis

Engineering data compendium. Human perception and performance. User's guide

The concept underlying the Engineering Data Compendium was the product of a research and development program (Integrated Perceptual Information for Designers project) aimed at facilitating the application of basic research findings in human performance to the design and military crew systems. The principal objective was to develop a workable strategy for: (1) identifying and distilling information of potential value to system design from the existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by systems designers. The present four volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is the first volume, the User's Guide, containing a description of the program and instructions for its use

Analysing Changes in the Acoustic Features of the Human Voice to Detect Depression amongst Biological Females in Higher Education

Depression significantly affects a large percentage of the population, with young adult females being one of the most at-risk demographics. Concurrently, there is a growing demand on healthcare, and with sufficient resources often unavailable to diagnose depression, new diagnostic methods are needed that are both cost-effective and accurate. The presence of depression is seen to significantly affect certain acoustic features of the human voice. Acoustic features have been found to exhibit subtle changes beyond the perception of the human auditory system when an individual has depression. With advances in speech processing, these subtle changes can be observed by machines. By measuring these changes, the human voice can be analysed to identify acoustic features that show a correlation with depression. The implementation of voice diagnosis would both reduce the burden on healthcare and ensure those with depression are diagnosed in a timely fashion, allowing them quicker access to treatment. The research project presents an analysis of voice data from 17 biological females between the ages of 20-26 years old in higher education as a means to detect depression. Eight participants were considered healthy with no history of depression, whilst the other nine currently had depression. Participants performed two vocal tasks consisting of extending sounds for a period of time and reading back a passage of speech. Six acoustic features were then measured from the voice data to determine whether these features can be utilised as diagnostic indicators of depression. The main finding of this study demonstrated one of the acoustic features measured demonstrates significant differences when comparing depressed and healthy individuals.<br/

The relation between acoustic and articulatory variation in vowels : data from American and Australian English

In studies of dialect variation, the articulatory nature of vowels is sometimes inferred from formant values using the following heuristic: F1 is inversely correlated with tongue height and F2 is inversely correlated with tongue backness. This study compared vowel formants and corresponding lingual articulation in two dialects of English, standard North American English and Australian English. Five speakers of North American English and four speakers of Australian English were recorded producing multiple repetitions of ten monophthongs embedded in the /sVd/ context. Simultaneous articulatory data were collected using electromagnetic articulography. Results show that there are significant correlations between tongue position and formants in the direction predicted by the heuristic but also that the relations implied by the heuristic break down under specific conditions. Articulatory vowel spaces, based on tongue dorsum (TD) position, and acoustic vowel spaces, based on formants, show systematic misalignment due in part to the influence of other articulatory factors, including lip rounding and tongue curvature on formant values. Incorporating these dimensions into our dialect comparison yields a richer description and a more robust understanding of how vowel formant patterns are reproduced within and across dialects

GROWING OLD AS A ROCK STAR: A FOUR-PART STUDY OF THE AGING VOICE

This dissertation focuses on the aging voice - specifically the aging elite vocal athlete. It is comprised of four components; a series of research studies and a viewpoint piece designed to explore the awareness, struggles, and vocal compensations of aging singers dealing with age related vocal and performance problems. The overarching goal of these studies is to inform the development of a voice care protocol for the aging rock star to guide customized intervention for these elite vocal athletes that is focused on optimizing both vocal output and performance. First, the dissertation introduces and identifies characteristics of the exceptional voice. This involves a new vocal continuum that includes the normal voice, the trained voice, and the exceptional voice. The second component is a qualitative study of older contemporary commercial music (CCM) singers adjustments and accommodations associated with their aging. From this, four overarching themes are identified: modest self-perception of their vocal prowess and its relationship to performance, acute sensitivity to changes in vocal quality, recognition of the critical association of voice quality with their identity as a performer, and an array of accommodations to aging-related vocal changes. The third component of the dissertation is a randomized control trial examining the efficacy of Vocal Function Exercises as a treatment modality for presbyphonia. Analysis revealed that the experimental group improved in select outcome measures including decreased glottic gap, increased upper range, and maximum phonation time at the 6-week post-treatment re-evaluation with no such changes in the control group. The final study investigated the vocal and performing trajectories of six CCM male singers through analysis of video performances across their career. Singers were shown to make accommodations consistent with the reported findings from component two. Such accommodations include decreased total time singing for some singers, accommodations for range changes, and changes to performance. From this study, the Exceptional Voice Protocol was created to provide a customized vocal and performance blueprint for each artist that meets their unique needs for their exceptional voices. Overall, this research indicates that aging CCM singers appear to be experiencing age and performance related vocal changes and are making detectable accommodations to their performance. Additional findings show that Vocal Function Exercises appear to be an efficacious treatment modality for aging voice. Findings from these studies confirm the need for continued research on age-related vocal and performance changes for these performers and guidelines for appropriate habilitation and rehabilitation so these rock stars can continue performing for as long as they desire

Multi‐speaker experimental designs: Methodological considerations

Research on language use has become increasingly interested in the multimodal and interactional aspects of language – theoretical models of dialogue, such as the Communication Accommodation Theory and the Interactive Alignment Model are examples of this. In addition, researchers have started to give more consideration to the relationship between physiological processes and language use. This article aims to contribute to the advancement in studies of physiological and/or multimodal language use in naturalistic settings. It does so by providing methodological recommendations for such multi-speaker experimental designs. It covers the topics of (a) speaker preparation and logistics, (b) experimental tasks and (c) data synchronisation and post-processing. The types of data that will be considered in further detail include audio and video, electroencephalography, respiratory data and electromagnetic articulography. This overview with recommendations is based on the answers to a questionnaire that was sent amongst the members of the Horizon 2020 research network ‘Conversational Brains’, several researchers in the field and interviews with three additional experts.H2020 Marie Skłodowska‐Curie Actions http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010665Peer Reviewe

Assessing objective characterizations of phonetic convergence

International audienceThis paper focuses on the study of the convergence between characteristics of speech segments- i.e. spectral characteristics of speech sounds - during live interactions between speaking dyads. The interaction data has been collected using an original verbal game called 'verbal dominoes' that provides a dense sampling of the acoustic spaces of the interlocutors. Two methods for characterizing phonetic convergence are here compared. The first one is based on a fine-grained analysis of the spectra of central frames of vowels (LDA) while the second one uses a more global speaker recognition technique (LLR). We show that convergence rates calculated by the two techniques correlate as the number of dominoes increases and that the LDA method well resists to the decrease of training and test material. We finally comment the impact of several factors on the computed convergence rates, i.e. interlocutors' familiarity and sex pairs

Homo sapiens, Chimpanzees and the Enigma of Language

ObjectivesThe present study explores the hypothesis that the anatomical bone structures of the oral cavity have probably evolved under the influence of language function. The possible changes have been evaluated by comparing two close species essentially differentiated from each other by spoken language.Materials and MethodsTwenty dry skulls and 20 mandibles of modern Caucasians were compared with 12 dry skulls and 12 mandibles of chimpanzees, with the analysis of 37 variables and the definition of new anatomical parameters.ResultsA number of highly significant differences were found between humans and chimpanzees. The human temporomandibular joint is comparatively less flat and has a more limited excursive movement range, with structural elements that seem to be lighter. A significant difference is noted in mandibular alveolar vergency and in the internal slope of the mandibular symphysis where the oral cavity’s morphology is modified, thereby increasing the free space for tongue movements in humans. The chin, which is unique to the human species, is quantified through the external slope of the mandibular symphysis with a lesser angle in humans.DiscussionIt is obvious that there are differences between humans and chimpanzees in the bone morphology of the oral cavity structures. This has been confirmed with the analysis of new variables. Together with other factors (bipedalism, habits, and genetics) speech in humans must have played an important role in the aforementioned differences between humans and chimpanzees. The number of mandibular movements involved in speech is far greater than those used in chewing, which must have conditioned the evolution of the oral structures implicated in the development of language. On average, humans weigh 70 kg and chimpanzees 44 kg. However, the majority of the variables studied in skulls and mandibles are greater in chimpanzees, which suggests that the evolution of the oral zone in humans has suffered a reduction in size with changes in shape. The refinement of the supralaryngeal vocal tract in the human species must have co-evolved with speech fairly recently. The human skull has temporomandibular joints that are comparatively less flat with a more limited movement. There is a greater lingual space and there is also a chin that suggests a muscular stimulant. This leads to the conclusion that, at least in part, speech is behind all these changes, although it is difficult to establish a cause-effect relationship