Effects of age on the amplitude, frequency and perceived quality of voice

Abstract

The manner and extent to which voice amplitude and frequency control mechanisms change with age is not well understood. The related question of whether the assessment of one's own voice evolves with age, concomitant with the acoustical changes that the voice undergoes, also remains unanswered. In the present study, we characterized the aging of voice production mechanisms (amplitude, frequency), compared the aging voice in different experimental contexts (vowel utterance, connected speech) and examined the relationship between voice self-assessment and age-related voice acoustical changes. Eighty healthy adults (20 to 75 years old) participated in the study, which involved computation of several acoustical measures of voice (including measures of fundamental frequency, voice amplitude, and stability) as well as self-assessments of voice. Because depression is frequent in older adults, depression and anxiety scores were also measured. As was expected, analyses revealed age effects on most acoustical measures. However, there was no interaction between age and the ability to produce high/low voice amplitude/frequency, suggesting that voice amplitude and frequency control mechanisms are preserved in aging. Multiple mediation analyses demonstrated that the relationship between age and voice self-assessment was moderated by depression and anxiety scores. Taken together, these results reveal that while voice production undergoes important changes throughout aging, the ability to increase/decrease the amplitude and frequency of voice are preserved, at least within the age range studied, and that depression and anxiety scores have a stronger impact on perceived voice quality than acoustical changes themselves.

Age differences in the motor control of speech: An fMRI study of healthy aging

“…Previous studies have documented a number of age-related differences in various aspects of spoken language production including changes in voice production affecting the fundamental frequency (pitch) of the voice [Decoster and Debruyne, 1997;Honjo and Isshiki, 1980;Hunter et al, 2012;Linville, 1996;Mueller, 1997;Ramig, 1983], as well as, the stability [Lortie et al, 2016[Lortie et al, , 2015Wilcox and Horii, 1980] and loudness of voice [Baker et al, 2001]. Previous studies have documented a number of age-related differences in various aspects of spoken language production including changes in voice production affecting the fundamental frequency (pitch) of the voice [Decoster and Debruyne, 1997;Honjo and Isshiki, 1980;Hunter et al, 2012;Linville, 1996;Mueller, 1997;Ramig, 1983], as well as, the stability [Lortie et al, 2016[Lortie et al, , 2015Wilcox and Horii, 1980] and loudness of voice [Baker et al, 2001].…”

“…In contrast to the rich literature on cognitive aging, much less is known about the neurobiological mechanisms associated with age-related changes in spoken language functions, despite their importance in day-to-day communication and social interactions. Previous studies have documented a number of age-related differences in various aspects of spoken language production including changes in voice production affecting the fundamental frequency (pitch) of the voice [Decoster and Debruyne, 1997;Honjo and Isshiki, 1980;Hunter et al, 2012;Linville, 1996;Mueller, 1997;Ramig, 1983], as well as, the stability [Lortie et al, 2016[Lortie et al, , 2015Wilcox and Horii, 1980] and loudness of voice [Baker et al, 2001]. Other studies have reported age-related differences in articulation and prosody, including a decrease in speech rate [Duchin and Mysak, 1987;Fozo and Watson, 1998;Searl et al, 2002;Wohlert and Smith, 1998], an increase in the duration of individual speech sounds and syllables during the repetition of words or sentences [Morris and Brown, 1987;Ryan and Burk, 1974;Smith et al, 1987], as well as a decrease in accuracy during the production of complex nonwords and non-speech oro-facial movements [Bilodeau-Mercure et al, 2015a;Sadagopan and Smith, 2013].…”

Características acústicas de vozes saudáveis de adultos: da idade jovem à meia-idade

“…In relation to the age, higher values of Jitter and Shimmer were observed for men and women (16) with increase in age, although the moment at which such increase occurs is not indicated. Jitter and Shimmer did not vary for middle-aged adult women when compared to younger populations (9) and also did not vary in studies with age groups that included middle age (1,14) .…”

“…Previous studies have determined one or several vocal acoustic normality parameters for voices of adults (1,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16) and elderly (10,12,14,(16)(17)(18)(19) , allowing to infer the physiological mechanisms of the production of these populations (2,3) . However, few studies have analyzed acoustic parameters specifically for the middle-aged population or included middle-aged adults in their investigations for comparison with younger populations (2,3,9,12,14) .…”

“…In relation to the fundamental frequency (F 0 ), higher values of F 0 are reported for women than for men (2,3,11,15) , with variations according to age for both genders. With advancing age, a decrease in F 0 of the vowel /a/ (3,10,16,18) and speech (10) is expected in women. Some studies have reported changes in F 0 in the pre-menopause phase (around 30 years of age) (12) or even around 48 years of age (9) , suggesting that the vocal changes in the women would begin in the pre-menopause.…”