Transmasculine voice after laryngeal manipulation (Dahl et al., 2022)

<b>Purpose: </b>The purpose of this study was to measure the short-term effects of circumlaryngeal massage and laryngeal reposturing on acoustic and perceptual characteristics of voice in transmasculine individuals.<b>Method:</b> Fifteen transmasculine individuals underwent one session of sequential circumlaryngeal massage and laryngeal reposturing with a speech-language pathologist. Voice recordings were collected at three time points—baseline, postmassage, and postreposturing. Fundamental frequency (fo), formant frequencies, and relative fundamental frequency (RFF; an acoustic correlate of laryngeal tension) were measured. Estimates of vocal tract length (VTL) were derived from formant frequencies. Twelve listeners rated the perceived masculinity of participants’ voices at each time point. Repeated-measures analyses of variance measured the effect of time point on <i>f</i>_o, estimated VTL, RFF, and perceived voice masculinity. Significant effects were evaluated with post hoc Tukey’s tests.<b>Results: </b>Between baseline and end of the session, <i>f</i>_o decreased, VTL increased, and participant voices were perceived as more masculine, all with statistically significant differences. RFF did not differ significantly at any time point. Outcomes were highly variable at the individual level.<b>Conclusion: </b>Circumlaryngeal massage and laryngeal reposturing have short-term effects on select acoustic (<i>f</i>_o, estimated VTL) and perceptual characteristics (listener-assigned voice masculinity) of voice in transmasculine individuals.<br><b>Supplemental Material S1.</b> Individual acoustic and perceptual outcomes for transmasculine speakers at three timepoints—baseline, after circumlaryngeal massage (post-massage) and after laryngeal reposturing (post-reposturing). <br>Dahl, K. L., François, F. A., Buckley, D. P., &amp; Stepp, C. E. (2022). Voice and speech changes in transmasculine individuals following circumlaryngeal massage and laryngeal reposturing. <i>American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.</i> Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_AJSLP-21-00245

<b>研究目的：</b>本研究旨在探究喉周按摩（circumlaryngeal massage）与喉结构重塑（laryngeal reposturing）对跨性别男性（transmasculine individuals）嗓音的声学特征与感知特征的短期影响。<b>研究方法：</b>15名跨性别男性在言语语言治疗师（speech-language pathologist）的操作下，接受了单次连续喉周按摩与喉结构重塑干预。研究在三个时间点采集嗓音录音：基线期、按摩后、结构重塑后。本研究测量了基频（fundamental frequency, <em>f</em>_o）、共振峰频率，以及相对基频（relative fundamental frequency, RFF，即与喉肌张力相关的声学指标）。根据共振峰频率推导得到声道长度（vocal tract length, VTL）的估计值。12名听辨者对每个时间点参与者嗓音的感知男性化程度进行评分。采用重复测量方差分析检验时间点对<em>f</em>_o、估计VTL、RFF以及感知嗓音男性化程度的影响，并通过事后Tukey检验对显著效应进行多重比较校正。<b>研究结果：</b>从基线期至干预结束，参与者的<em>f</em>_o显著降低、估计VTL显著升高，且其嗓音被感知为更具男性化，上述差异均具有统计学显著性。而RFF在各时间点间均无显著差异。个体层面的干预结果存在高度异质性。<b>研究结论：</b>喉周按摩与喉结构重塑可对跨性别男性的部分声学指标（<em>f</em>_o、估计VTL）以及感知特征（听辨者评定的嗓音男性化程度）产生短期影响。<br><b>补充材料S1：</b>跨性别发言者在三个时间点——基线期、喉周按摩后（post-massage）、喉结构重塑后（post-reposturing）——的个体声学与感知结果。<br>Dahl, K. L., François, F. A., Buckley, D. P., & Stepp, C. E. (2022). 《喉周按摩与喉结构重塑后跨性别男性的嗓音与言语变化》。<i>美国言语语言病理学期刊（American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology）</i>. 在线预发表. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_AJSLP-21-00245