The influence of attention on the dynamical structure of postural sway was examined in 30 healthy young adults by manipulating the focus of attention. In line with the proposed direct relation between the amount of attention invested in postural control and regularity of center-of-pressure (COP) time series, we hypothesized that: (1) increasing cognitive involvement in postural control (i.e., creating an internal focus by increasing task difficulty through visual deprivation) increases COP regularity, and (2) withdrawing attention from postural control (i.e., creating an external focus by performing a cognitive dual task) decreases COP regularity. We quantified COP dynamics in terms of sample entropy (regularity), standard deviation (variability), sway-path length of the normalized posturogram (curviness), largest Lyapunov exponent (local stability), correlation dimension (dimensionality) and scaling exponent (scaling behavior). Consistent with hypothesis 1, standing with eyes closed significantly increased COP regularity. Furthermore, variability increased and local stability decreased, implying ineffective postural control. Conversely, and in line with hypothesis 2, performing a cognitive dual task while standing with eyes closed led to greater irregularity and smaller variability, suggesting an increase in the ''efficiency, or ''automaticity'' of postural control''. In conclusion, these findings not only indicate that regularity of COP trajectories is positively related to the amount of attention invested in postural control, but also substantiate that in certain situations an increased internal focus may in fact be detrimental to postural control.

This article discusses communication problems of transsexuals and gives an example of phoniatric and logopedic assessment as well as a possible ‘prototype’ of speech therapy with male-to-female transsexuals.

Voices of patients diagnosed with early glottic cancer improved but did not normalize fully after radiotherapy. Stripping the vocal cord for initial diagnosis and continued smoking after treatment decreased voice characteristics. A multidimensional analysis protocol including perceptual and acoustical analysis of voice quality and stroboscopic analysis of vocal function is recommended to investigate voice characteristics following treatment for early glottic cancer.

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Patients with carcinoma of the tongue including the base of the tongue who underwent total glossectomy in a period of just over ten years since January 1979 have been reviewed. Total glossectomy may be indicated as salvage surgery or as a primary procedure. The larynx may be preserved or may have to be sacrificed depending upon the site of the lesion. When the larynx is preserved the use of laryngeal suspension facilitates early rehabilitation and preserves the quality of life to a large extent. Cricopharyngeal myotomy seems unnecessary.

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SIn this study we investigated the speech of six patients after total glossectomy. After rehabilitation a reasonable function of speech was possible, as a result of compensatory mechanisms. Suggestions to improve the results of speech and language therapy are given. A u cours de cette Ctude nous a v o m examink le Iangage par16 de sin patients ayant subi une glossectomie totale. A p r b rkhabilitation un fonctionnement raisonnable du langage par16 s'est rkvklk possible grcice a des mkcanismes compensatoires. L'on suggkre certaines mesures afin damtliorer les rksultats de la thirapie. In dieser Studie wurde das Sprechvermogen von sechs Patienten nach einer Totalglossektomie untersucht. Nach der Rehabilitation wurde mit Hilfe von Kompensatiommechanismen eine passable Sprechfunktion erreicht. Vorschlage werden gemacht, um die Ergebnisse der Sprechtherapie z u verbessern.