Hoffmeister Jesse D, Konczak Jürgen, Misono Stephanie N
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
J Appl Physiol (1985). 2025 Jan 1;138(1):203-212. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00385.2024. Epub 2024 Dec 6.
Strength of vocal fold adduction has been hypothesized to be a critical factor influencing vocal acoustics but has been difficult to measure directly during phonation. Recent work has suggested that upper esophageal sphincter (UES) pressure, which can be easily assessed, increases with stronger vocal fold adduction, raising the possibility that UES pressure might indirectly reflect vocal fold adduction strength. However, concurrent UES pressure and vocal acoustics have not previously been examined across different vocal tasks. Doing so may offer insights into the potential use of UES pressure for relative quantification of the strength of vocal fold adduction and how this might contribute to vocal acoustics across different vocal tasks. We assessed UES pressure relative to vocal acoustics in 32 vocally healthy adults during sustained vowels, whispered sentences, and spoken sentences. Smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPs) and low-to-high spectral energy ratio (LHR) were derived from the acoustic signal. After controlling for resting UES pressure, age, and sex, we observed significant negative correlations between UES pressure and CPPs and a significant positive correlation between UES pressure and LHR. UES pressures were significantly higher during spoken sentences than whispered sentences and sustained vowels. Measuring UES pressure relative to vocal acoustics is a novel methodology for studying upper aerodigestive tract physiology during phonation and has the potential to enhance understanding of voice disruption in clinical populations. Clinical implications and considerations for implementation are discussed. We identified relationships between upper esophageal sphincter (UES) pressures and vocal acoustics during phonation in vocally healthy individuals, potentially reflecting the influence of strength of vocal fold adduction and other phonatory factors on vocal acoustics. This methodology could lead to the development of a clinical and research tool that could provide insight into the strength of vocal fold adduction, a critical factor influencing voice quality that has historically been difficult to assess.
声带内收的力量被认为是影响声音声学的关键因素，但在发声过程中一直难以直接测量。最近的研究表明，上食管括约肌（UES）压力很容易评估，且会随着声带内收力量的增强而增加，这增加了UES压力可能间接反映声带内收力量的可能性。然而，此前尚未在不同的发声任务中同时检测UES压力和声音声学特征。这样做可能有助于深入了解UES压力在相对量化声带内收力量方面的潜在用途，以及这如何在不同的发声任务中对声音声学产生影响。我们评估了32名嗓音健康的成年人在持续元音、低语句子和口语句子发声过程中的UES压力与声音声学特征之间的关系。从声学信号中得出了平滑的谐波峰值突出度（CPPs）和低到高的频谱能量比（LHR）。在控制了静息UES压力、年龄和性别后，我们观察到UES压力与CPPs之间存在显著的负相关，与LHR之间存在显著的正相关。口语句子发声时的UES压力显著高于低语句子和持续元音发声时的压力。相对于声音声学特征测量UES压力是一种研究发声过程中上消化道生理的新方法，有可能增进我们对临床人群声音障碍的理解。本文讨论了其临床意义和实施方面的考虑因素。我们确定了嗓音健康个体发声时上食管括约肌（UES）压力与声音声学特征之间的关系，这可能反映了声带内收力量和其他发声因素对声音声学的影响。这种方法可能会促成一种临床和研究工具的开发，该工具可以深入了解声带内收的力量，这是一个影响嗓音质量的关键因素，而历史上一直难以评估。
