The Vocal Tract Sept 6/9

Question 1

Speech is almost invisible… what are the 4 ways we can see the articulators we talked about in class.

Answer 1

Autopsy, x-ray, MRi, ultrasound

Question 2

What are pros and cons of the autopsy

Answer 2

Pros:
- no sophisticated tools required
- possible to see where the muscles and Cartlidge are located, how they attach to each other.
possible to see the shapes of the organ.
Cons:
- No way to see them in actio
- no knowledge of physiology possible.

Question 3

What are x-ray pros and cons

Answer 3

pros:
- nice images if used with metals (Daniel jones)
Cons:
- tongue/skin surface does not show up (clearly)
- exposure to x-ray is harmful for human body
- not approved by ethics board anymore (only used for medical purposes.)

Question 4

What are some pros and cons of the ultrasound?

Answer 4

Pros:
- tongue surface is clearly visible
- not invasive
- can show the tongue movement in real time
- sound waves are harmless for the human body
Cons:
- does not image through bones well (shows up as black)
- often tongue root movement is difficult to track due to hyoid bone

Question 5

what are the pros and cons of an MRI?

Answer 5

Pros:
- fleshy parts are nicely imaged
- can see a wider range of organs than in other techniques
- not invasive
- can see articulators in real time
Con:
- Very expensive
- uncomfortable for people with claustrophobia.

Question 6

Poll Question:

Which method would be best to see a pharyngeal constriction in action?

a. autopsy
b. x-ray
c. ultrasound
d. MRI

Answer 6

not:
a. can’t look in action
b. x-ray does not show soft tissue well
c. too many mediums for a good look

Yes!
d. MRI will be able to see the soft tissues.

Question 7

What are the 3 parts of the sub-laryngeal tract?

Answer 7

Diaphragm, lungs, trachea

Question 8

Which intercostals help with which part of breathing?

Answer 8

• The external intercostals raise the ribcage during inhalation.
• the internal intercostals retract ribcage with exhaling.

Question 9

How do the ab muscles help the sub-laryngeal tract?

Answer 9

Exhaling uses the abs to squish internal organs, they start going up squeezing lungs to squish.

Question 10

What is the larynx made of?

Answer 10

All cartilage no bones.

Question 11

From bottom to top what makes up the larynx? (the hard parts)

Answer 11

trachea, cricoid cartilage, arytenoid cartilage, thyroid cartilage hyoid bone (only floating bone in the body, gives ease to larynx)

Question 12

What are the larynx muscles?

Answer 12

Abductor
(taking apart - aspiration in voicing ‘p’)
- posterior crico-arytenoid muscles (PCA) - connects cricoid + arytenoid cartilage.

Adductors
(bring close together - voicing - ‘a’)
- inter-arytenoid muscles
- lateral crico-artenoid muscles.

Pitch manipulation
- thryo-artenoid muscles
- crico-thyroid muscles.

Question 13

What are the 3 types of muscles in the larynx?

Answer 13

abductors - push apart for aspiration
adductors - push together for voicing
pitch manipulators

Question 14

Poll Question:

Which of the following work to produce voicing in a sound?

a. thyro-cricoid muscles
b. posterior Criso-arytenoid muscles
c. inter-arytenoid muscles
d. none of the above

Answer 14

c. Inter-arytenoid muscles are adductors which are involved in voicing.

Question 15

How does throat singing happen?

Answer 15

Throat singing uses the vestibular folds (fake vocal folds) to create a unique voice quality.