The aged voice: a new hypothesis.

The anatomical changes in the senescent larynx are presented, with particular reference to the nonlinearity model of laryngeal biomechanics. The behavior of the Ishizaka-Flanagan 2-mass model in geriatric phonation suggests that an increase in nonlinearity can explain a number of disparate observations about the aged voice. Biomechanical assessment of real laryngeal tissue and experimentation in vivo is needed to confirm the hypothesis, leading to better paradigms of some phonatory disorders and perhaps to novel treatments.