Quantitative analysis of vocal fold vibration during register change by high-speed digital imaging system

Abstract

The physiological study of prosody is indispensable in terms not only of the physiological interest but also of the evaluation and treatment for pathological cases of prosody. In free talk, the changes of vocal fold vibration are found frequently and these phenomena are very important prosodic events. To analyze quantitatively the vocal fold vibration at the register change as the model of prosodic event, our high-speed digital imaging system was used at a rate of 4500 images of 256–256 pixels per second. Four healthy Japanese adults (2 males and 2 females) were served as subjects. Tasks were sustained phonation containing register changes. Two major categories (Category A and B) were found in the ways of changing of vocal fold vibrations at the register change. In Category A, changes were very smooth in terms of the vocal fold vibration. In Category B, changes were not so smooth with some additional events at the register change, such as the anterior–posterior phase difference of the vibration, the abduction of the vocal folds, or the interruption of the phonation. The number of the subtypes for Category B is thought to increase if more subjects with a wider range of variety are analyzed. For the study of prosody, our high-speed digital imaging system is a very powerful tool by which physiological information can be obtained.