Morphologic Differences in the Vocal Tract Resonance Cavities of Voice Professionals: An MRI-Based Study

Abstract

The processes that take place during singing and acting are complex. However, morphologic and dynamic studies of the vocal tracts during speech have been gaining greater attention, mainly because of the rapid technical advances being made with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and image analysis and processing techniques. Objectives/Hypothesis and Methods. Our aim was to describe the morphologic differences in the vocal tract resonance cavities among voice professionals using MRI, and with the three-dimensional models built from the MRI data, compare the volumes calculated for the whole vocal tract and its major resonance cavities. Study Design. Prospective study. Results. The images acquired during the spoken and singing tasks provided morphologic information about the whole vocal tract cavity and also its two major resonance cavities: the oral and the pharynx cavities; differences were observed in the volumes measured during the production of some vowels. Conclusions. The morphologic differences found in the singing voices indicated an increase in the oral cavity volume, resulting in an increase in the overall volumes measured. In the acting voices, both the resonance cavities of the vocal tract contributed to the differences measured.