Subglottal resonances in healthy older adults

Resonances of the subglottal airways impact the vocal tract transfer function and voice production during speech through linear and non-linear acoustic coupling. It has been posited that subglottal resonances form acoustic boundaries between contrasting sets of vowels and consonants based on their coupling effects on formant frequencies. Thus far, studies of subglottal resonances have reported data almost exclusively from children and young adults; data from older adults are rare. This study investigates subglottal resonances in eight healthy older adults between 50 and 80 years of age (5 males, 3 females). Initial analyses indicate that the first and especially the second subglottal resonances are at lower frequencies than expected when compared against height-matched young adults but that the subglottal resonance frequencies are not dependent on posture, vowel acoustics, or standard measures of pulmonary function.