Nervous System
What type of neurons (afferent or efferent) carry information from the CNS to the body’s sensory organs.
afferent
When the volume of the lungs INCREASES, it causes the pressure inside the lungs (alveolar pressure) to ____________.
decrease
What subglottal pressure is required to blow the folds open for speech?
3-5 cm H2O
What is the primary muscle for elevating the velum?
levator veli palatini
What part of the ear is involved in Otitis Media?
middle ear
What types of fibers communicate from one hemisphere of the brain to the other?
Commissural
Which dimension of the thorax increases when the diaphragm contracts?
vertical
The arytenoids sit on top of the posterior portion of the _______________.
cricoid cartilage
Mobile: tongue (largest articulator), mandible (second largest articulator), velum or soft palate, lips, cheeks, pharynx, larynx and hyoid bone
Immobile: alveolar ridge, hard palate, teeth
What is a speech banana?
A speech banana represents the range of frequencies and intensities of sounds that are used in human speech; it serves as a visual aid for understanding which speech sounds might be audible or inaudible to someone with hearing loss at different pitches and loudness.
What are two roles of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF)?
Bathes and nourishes the central nervous system (CNS)
Cushions neural tissues
What is the main difference between quiet versus forced expiration?
Quiet breathing: passive (muscles of inspiration simply relax)
Forced breathing: active (muscles of expiration help to decrease volume of thorax even more)
Name and describe (with examples if possible) the three types of vocal attacks.
Simultaneous attack: adduction of vocal folds and expiration occur together (e.g., “zoo”)
Breathy attack: expiration precedes adduction (e.g., “hello”)
Glottal attack: adduction precedes expiration (e.g., “cat”)
What do AMRs and SMRs stand for? And what is the overarching task they are both a part of?
alternating motion rates
sequential motion rates
diadochokinetic task (DDK)
Where on the cochlea responds to high versus low frequencies?
Base: stiff → responds to high frequencies
Apex: flexible → responds to low frequencies
Compare and contrast the comprehension and expressive language skills of Broca's, Wernicke's, and conduction aphasia.
Broca's aphasia: relatively intact comprehension, choppy expressive language (know what they want to say but can't say it)
Wernicke's aphasia: impaired comprehension, relatively intact expressive language (fluent speech but does not make much sense)
Conduction aphasia: relatively intact comprehension and expressive language, but cannot repeat
Inspiration: diaphragm, external intercostals, internal intercostals (only cartilage part), levatores costarum, serratus posterior superior, sternocleidomastoid, scalenes, trapezius, pectoralis major and minor, serratus anterior, subclavius, levator scapulae, rhomboideus major and minor
Expiration: internal intercostals, innermost intercostals, transversus thoracis, subcostals, serratus posterior inferior, latissimus dorsi, transversus abdominus, external obliques, internal obliques, rectus abdominus, quadratus lumborum
What is the Bernoulli effect and what is it relevant for in speech?
As the velocity of a fluid increases, the pressure exerted by the fluid decreases. The Bernoulli Effect in speech describes how increased airflow velocity through the glottis causes a drop in pressure, drawing the vocal folds back together to create the vibrations needed for phonation.
What is the role of the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) and what phase of swallowing is it involved in?
The UES regulates the passage of the bolus from the pharynx into the esophagus. It serves as a barrier that prevents air from entering the esophagus during breathing and protects against the aspiration of food or liquid into the airway. During swallowing (specifically, the pharyngeal phase), the UES relaxes to allow the bolus to pass into the esophagus, and it then contracts again to prevent reflux.
Name the four types of energy that sound is translated into in the outer ear, middle ear, cochlea, and auditory pathway.
Outer ear (acoustic energy): collect and amplify sound, aid in localization
Middle ear (mechanical energy): impedance matching
Cochlea (hydraulic energy): frequency and intensity analysis
Auditory pathway (electrochemical energy): complex signal processing
Name five of the seven cranial nerves involved in speech and what their sensory and motor roles are.
Trigeminal: sensory for eyes, nose, face and meninges; motor for muscles of mastication and tongue
Facial: sensory for tongue (taste); motor for muscles of the face (expression, tear glands, salivation)
Vestibulocochlear: sensory for hearing and balance
Glossopharyngeal: sensory for tongue, pharynx, soft palate; motor for pharynx and stylopharyngeus
Vagus: sensory for viscera (stomach, kidneys, liver, lungs, heart); motor for larynx
Accessory: motor to pharynx, larynx, soft palate and neck (helpful in holding head up)
Hypoglossal: motor to strap muscles of the neck, intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of the tongue (important for articulation, resonance, and swallowing)
Describe the three main pressure states (i.e., pressure too high for speech, pressure is just right for speech, and pressure is not enough for speech) during speaking and what happens to change them.
Pressure is too high for speech: outflow of air must be controlled, so that we don’t exhale it all at once, inspiratory muscles contract a bit to perform checking action (slows down the elastic recoil)
Pressure is just right for speech: in the middle of expiration, checking action muscles relax at a specific point of pressure (when it is just right), we can speak efficiently on this perfect amount of pressure
Pressure is too low for speech: muscles of expiration must contract to help us get out some “extra air”, using some functional residual capacity to complete the utterance
Contrast two voice disorders caused by vocal hyperfunction (i.e., what they look like, where they are located, and how they make the voice sound).
Vocal nodules: callous-like, located on anterior and middle third of vocal folds, result in hoarse or breathy voice with reduced pitch range
Vocal polyps: blister-like, located anywhere along the vocal fold and are typically unilateral, result in harsh or rough voice with more noticeable voice breaks
1. Reflexively controlled
2. Peristaltic (wave-like) contraction and gravity move the bolus down to stomach in 10 – 20 seconds
3. Once bolus has passed, cricopharyngeus re-contracts
4. Larynx and velum lower back down
5. Respiration restarts after about 1 second in normal swallow
Name the three ways the middle ear performs impedance matching (and amount of gain each provides).
1. Area ratio: pressure can be increased by decreasing area over which force is distributed, area ratio between tympanic membrane (55 mm2) and oval window (3.2mm2) provides 25 dB gain
2. Lever action: length and positioning of ossicular chain creates lever that provides 2 dB gain
3. Buckling effect: tympanic membrane buckles > boost sound by making ear's bones move with more force > helping you hear sounds more clearly, provides 4 dB gain