Hearing and phonetic criteria in voice measurement: Clinical applications

Fourcin, Adrian; Abberton, Evelyn

doi:10.1080/14015430701251574

Cited by 30 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Because of its large variations in f0 and harmonicity, connected speech may provide a more reliable estimate of a person's intonation in a naturalistic setting (Baken 1987;Yiu et al 2000;Bhuta et al 2004). Variability in connected speech may reflect the continuous changing vocal fold settings and conditions of voice onset and offset that occur in real-life situations (Fourcin and Abberton 2008;Fourcin 2009). And yet, connected speech is not the preferred signal for objective measurement of voice, in part because it is more difficult to elicit and because it is intrinsically a less controlled measure.…”

Section: Connected Speechmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of age on the amplitude, frequency and perceived quality of voice

Lortie

Thibeault

Guitton

et al. 2015

AGE

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The manner and extent to which voice amplitude and frequency control mechanisms change with age is not well understood. The related question of whether the assessment of one's own voice evolves with age, concomitant with the acoustical changes that the voice undergoes, also remains unanswered. In the present study, we characterized the aging of voice production mechanisms (amplitude, frequency), compared the aging voice in different experimental contexts (vowel utterance, connected speech) and examined the relationship between voice self-assessment and age-related voice acoustical changes. Eighty healthy adults (20 to 75 years old) participated in the study, which involved computation of several acoustical measures of voice (including measures of fundamental frequency, voice amplitude, and stability) as well as self-assessments of voice. Because depression is frequent in older adults, depression and anxiety scores were also measured. As was expected, analyses revealed age effects on most acoustical measures. However, there was no interaction between age and the ability to produce high/low voice amplitude/frequency, suggesting that voice amplitude and frequency control mechanisms are preserved in aging. Multiple mediation analyses demonstrated that the relationship between age and voice self-assessment was moderated by depression and anxiety scores. Taken together, these results reveal that while voice production undergoes important changes throughout aging, the ability to increase/decrease the amplitude and frequency of voice are preserved, at least within the age range studied, and that depression and anxiety scores have a stronger impact on perceived voice quality than acoustical changes themselves.

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Section: Connected Speechmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of age on the amplitude, frequency and perceived quality of voice

Lortie

Thibeault

Guitton

et al. 2015

AGE

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“…As with previous studies [25,35,41], this study questions the validity of using mean acoustic measures (jitter, shimmer, HNR) that are derived from steady-state vowels to shed light on voice quality within the DS population. The use of visual data alongside auditory information was instrumental in understanding the limitations of the acoustic data, and for shedding light on the nature of voice production in the participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of sustained vowels typically exclude onset and offset [25] which can result in the exclusion of data that may be particularly relevant to disturbed phonation [26,35,36]. Therefore, three measures of subharmonics were generated for each sustained vowel: the initial 100 ms (onset); the final 100 ms (offset); and the medial portion between the onset and offset (T-200 ms).…”

Section: Calculation Of Subharmonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The study uses voice perturbation data (Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio [HNR], jitter and shimmer) and mean fundamental frequency [f0] alongside evidence from visual data to explore the nature of phonation in sustained vowels, and to consider how the data link to the participants' habitual voice qualities. Although sustained vowels are not a reliable indicator for voice quality in speech [25] the use of sustained vowels allows for examination of phonation when articulation and processing demands are low. As such, it can be expected that any difficulties that are revealed in these conditions will be exacerbated in connected speech [17,25,26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although sustained vowels are not a reliable indicator for voice quality in speech [25] the use of sustained vowels allows for examination of phonation when articulation and processing demands are low. As such, it can be expected that any difficulties that are revealed in these conditions will be exacerbated in connected speech [17,25,26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Analyses of Sustained Vowels in Down Syndrome (DS): A Case Study Using Spectrograms and Perturbation Data to Investigate Voice Quality in Four Adults With DS

2018

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Analyses of sustained vowels in Down Syndrome (DS): a case study using spectrograms and perturbation data to investigate voice quality in 4 adults with DS.Objectives. Automatic acoustic measures of voice quality in people with Down Syndrome (DS) do not reliably reflect perceived voice qualities. This study used acoustic data and visual spectral data to investigate the relationship between perceived voice qualities and acoustic measures.Study design. Participants were 4 young adults (2 male, 2 female; mean age 23;8 years) with DS and SevereLearning Disabilities (SLD), at least one of whom had a hearing impairment (HI).Methods. Participants imitated sustained /i/, /u/ and /a/ vowels at pre-determined target pitches within their vocal range. Medial portions of vowels were analysed, using Praat, for Fundamental frequency (f0), HNR, jitter and shimmer. Spectrograms were used to identify the presence and the duration of subharmonics at onset and offset, and mid-vowel. The presence of diplophonia was assessed by auditory evaluation.Results. Perturbation data were highest for /a/ vowels and lowest for /u/ vowels. Intermittent productions of subharmonics were evident in spectrograms, some of which coincided with perceived diplophonia. The incidence, location, duration and intensity of subharmonics differed between the four participants. Conclusions.Although the acoustic data do not clearly indicate atypical phonation, diplophonia and subharmonics reflect nonmodal phonation. The findings suggest that these may contribute to different perceived voice qualities in the study group and that these qualities may result from intermittent involvement of supraglottal structures. Further research is required to confirm the findings in the wider DS population, and to assess the relationships between voice quality, vowel type and physiological measures.

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Electrical stimulation–supported voice exercises are superior to voice exercise therapy alone in patients with unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paresis: Results from a prospective, randomized clinical trial

Ptok

Strack

2008

Muscle and Nerve

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For more than 40 years, electrical stimulation procedures for unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paresis (URLNP) therapy have been proposed. However, it is unclear whether electrical stimulation therapy is effective for URLNP patients. In this study we compare the outcome of traditional voice exercise treatment (VE) with electrical stimulation-supported voice exercise (ES). A total of 90 URLNP patients were recruited to participate in a prospective, randomized trial. The decrease in vocal fold irregularity (CFx) and increase in maximum phonation time (MPT) after a 3-month therapy period were the dependent variables. In the ES group, CFx improved to a significantly greater extent than in the VE group. MPT increased similarly in both groups. Our data indicate that ES is superior to VE for patients with URLNP. Because no further data exist, it can be assumed that improvement following VE only reflects spontaneous recovery. However ES appears to be an effective non-surgical therapeutic procedure.

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Hearing and phonetic criteria in voice measurement: Clinical applications

Cited by 30 publications

References 22 publications

Effects of age on the amplitude, frequency and perceived quality of voice

Effects of age on the amplitude, frequency and perceived quality of voice

Analyses of Sustained Vowels in Down Syndrome (DS): A Case Study Using Spectrograms and Perturbation Data to Investigate Voice Quality in Four Adults With DS

Electrical stimulation–supported voice exercises are superior to voice exercise therapy alone in patients with unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve paresis: Results from a prospective, randomized clinical trial

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