COMD 5070 Week 4 Exam Questions & Answers
Fully Solved
Understanding laryngeal function is important because it plays such an important role
as the ______________ in speech. - ANSWER-sound source
What are 3 major points the lecture makes about the voice? - ANSWER-allows efficient
communication
can be an artistic tool
conveys subtle shades of emotion (voice is reflective of person's emotional state)
*most daily communication is done with voice because speaking is much more efficient
than reading and writing for many people because it's quicker
There are some voice disorders that are entirely due to stress. A subset of all muscle
tension dysphonia can be attributed to ________________________ - ANSWER-
conflict or psychological stress factors in a person's life
e.g. you can often tell that a person's about to cry based on their voice
The limbic system of the brain that helps regulate emotional responses can have a very
strong influence on the function of the larnyx, it has neural connects to the larynx that
can influence how the voice sounds
"You cannot understand a disorder unless
you know how the normal system
works." - ANSWER-....
physiologic detail - ANSWER-voice problems come from disordered vocal fold activity
therapy aims to improve vocal fold
movements
detailed information about the activity of
the larynx helps assessment and treatment
Voice problems come from ________________________. - ANSWER-disordered vocal
fold activity
Therapy for disordered phonation aims to improve _________________. - ANSWER-
vocal fold movements
,Voice problems come from disordered vocal fold activity. Therefore, if there is
something wrong with the quality of the voice, there is something wrong with the
______________. - ANSWER-vocal folds
Explain why detailed information about the activity of
the larynx helps assessment and treatment. - ANSWER-If we can get more physiologic
detail of what's going on at the level of the larynx, we can understand the etiology, or
the cause, of the voice disorder in greater detail.
Then, we can tailor our therapy to address the disordered phsyiology
Therapy can address underlying causes if etiology is known
*There can be several different causes of voice disorders, but these disorders may
share several perceptual features (e.g. hoarseness, roughness)
What might a physician who does NOT specialize in voice, use when taking a look at
your larynx? - ANSWER-laryngeal mirror
When conducting a laryngeal mirror exam, the clinician places the mirror at the back of
the throat, holds the tongue of the patient, and then shines a light at the mirror which is
reflected down to the larynx and the image is reflected back up so the clinician can see
structures of larynx (in a low level of detail)
*ENT (otolaryngologist) would use more high tech approaches
Why might a physician pull on the patient's tongue during a laryngeal mirror exam? -
ANSWER-Pulling on the patient's tongue tugs on epiglottis which is a cartilage at the
front of the larynx and helps pull it forward and out of the way so that when you hold the
mirror in place, you have a less obstructed view of the vocal folds
try to get the person to pretend they are saying the vowel sound "eeeeee" which helps
pull epiglottis forward
otherwise, the epiglottis tends to flap backwards somewhat and partially obstruct the
larynx
laryneal mirror exam - ANSWER-widely used approach to get a cursory look at the
larynx to see if there are any gross structure abnormalities visible to the unaided eye
Clinician looks to see if there is abductor and adductor movement of the arynteoids
When conducting a laryngeal mirror exam, the clinician places the mirror at the back of
the throat, holds the tongue of the patient, and then shines a light at the mirror which is
reflected down to the larynx and the image is reflected back up so the clinician can see
structures of larynx (in a low level of detail)
, rigid scope exam - ANSWER-rigid endoscope used to conduct voice assessment
metal rod which has fiber optic cables which carry light from a bright light source and
this light shines out at the end of the scope downwards at an angle towards the larynx
lens on the tip of the scope brings an image back up through fiber optic cables to a
camera which displays image on a screen
Used for more detailed voicework
Typically used by ENT, but SLPs can be trained and qualified to perform this type of
assessment
Can SLPs conduct rigid scope exams? - ANSWER-Yes, provided that they are trained.
While rigid endoscopes are typically used by ENTs, SLPs can be trained and qualified
to perform this type of assessment.
These trained SLPs often work in voice clinics and routinely perform endoscopic
evaluations of voice clients in order to see vocal fold activity as it's happening.
Are there times when doing a rigid scope exam is alittle more challenging, or tricky? -
ANSWER-Yes. Because all individuals differ in their exact internal anatomy of the vocal
tract, it is more challenging to perform a rigid scope exam on some people.
For example, they might have a hyperactive gag reflex, or a very small opening into the
back of the oral cavity as you get into the pharynx so you don't have as clear a view of
the vocal folds
What are some of the limitations of the rigid scope exam? - ANSWER-Does not provide
a view of representative vocal fold activity during normal conversational speech
production because the person can only phonate a vowel, and not much else. (The
scope is in there mouth preventing them from articulating many other sounds)
limited or restricted view of vocal fold activity
What is an alternative to the rigid scope exam? - ANSWER-flexible scope exam
flexible scope exam - ANSWER-fiber optic scope that can be passed through the nasal
cavity over the top of the velum to shine down on the larynx from above
similar to rigid scope exam, you must have bright light source (fiber optic cables carry
light down through the tip of the scope to illuminate what you are looking at with a lens
at the end also connected to fiber optic cables to bring the image back up to a camera)
used mostly in a medical setting
Fully Solved
Understanding laryngeal function is important because it plays such an important role
as the ______________ in speech. - ANSWER-sound source
What are 3 major points the lecture makes about the voice? - ANSWER-allows efficient
communication
can be an artistic tool
conveys subtle shades of emotion (voice is reflective of person's emotional state)
*most daily communication is done with voice because speaking is much more efficient
than reading and writing for many people because it's quicker
There are some voice disorders that are entirely due to stress. A subset of all muscle
tension dysphonia can be attributed to ________________________ - ANSWER-
conflict or psychological stress factors in a person's life
e.g. you can often tell that a person's about to cry based on their voice
The limbic system of the brain that helps regulate emotional responses can have a very
strong influence on the function of the larnyx, it has neural connects to the larynx that
can influence how the voice sounds
"You cannot understand a disorder unless
you know how the normal system
works." - ANSWER-....
physiologic detail - ANSWER-voice problems come from disordered vocal fold activity
therapy aims to improve vocal fold
movements
detailed information about the activity of
the larynx helps assessment and treatment
Voice problems come from ________________________. - ANSWER-disordered vocal
fold activity
Therapy for disordered phonation aims to improve _________________. - ANSWER-
vocal fold movements
,Voice problems come from disordered vocal fold activity. Therefore, if there is
something wrong with the quality of the voice, there is something wrong with the
______________. - ANSWER-vocal folds
Explain why detailed information about the activity of
the larynx helps assessment and treatment. - ANSWER-If we can get more physiologic
detail of what's going on at the level of the larynx, we can understand the etiology, or
the cause, of the voice disorder in greater detail.
Then, we can tailor our therapy to address the disordered phsyiology
Therapy can address underlying causes if etiology is known
*There can be several different causes of voice disorders, but these disorders may
share several perceptual features (e.g. hoarseness, roughness)
What might a physician who does NOT specialize in voice, use when taking a look at
your larynx? - ANSWER-laryngeal mirror
When conducting a laryngeal mirror exam, the clinician places the mirror at the back of
the throat, holds the tongue of the patient, and then shines a light at the mirror which is
reflected down to the larynx and the image is reflected back up so the clinician can see
structures of larynx (in a low level of detail)
*ENT (otolaryngologist) would use more high tech approaches
Why might a physician pull on the patient's tongue during a laryngeal mirror exam? -
ANSWER-Pulling on the patient's tongue tugs on epiglottis which is a cartilage at the
front of the larynx and helps pull it forward and out of the way so that when you hold the
mirror in place, you have a less obstructed view of the vocal folds
try to get the person to pretend they are saying the vowel sound "eeeeee" which helps
pull epiglottis forward
otherwise, the epiglottis tends to flap backwards somewhat and partially obstruct the
larynx
laryneal mirror exam - ANSWER-widely used approach to get a cursory look at the
larynx to see if there are any gross structure abnormalities visible to the unaided eye
Clinician looks to see if there is abductor and adductor movement of the arynteoids
When conducting a laryngeal mirror exam, the clinician places the mirror at the back of
the throat, holds the tongue of the patient, and then shines a light at the mirror which is
reflected down to the larynx and the image is reflected back up so the clinician can see
structures of larynx (in a low level of detail)
, rigid scope exam - ANSWER-rigid endoscope used to conduct voice assessment
metal rod which has fiber optic cables which carry light from a bright light source and
this light shines out at the end of the scope downwards at an angle towards the larynx
lens on the tip of the scope brings an image back up through fiber optic cables to a
camera which displays image on a screen
Used for more detailed voicework
Typically used by ENT, but SLPs can be trained and qualified to perform this type of
assessment
Can SLPs conduct rigid scope exams? - ANSWER-Yes, provided that they are trained.
While rigid endoscopes are typically used by ENTs, SLPs can be trained and qualified
to perform this type of assessment.
These trained SLPs often work in voice clinics and routinely perform endoscopic
evaluations of voice clients in order to see vocal fold activity as it's happening.
Are there times when doing a rigid scope exam is alittle more challenging, or tricky? -
ANSWER-Yes. Because all individuals differ in their exact internal anatomy of the vocal
tract, it is more challenging to perform a rigid scope exam on some people.
For example, they might have a hyperactive gag reflex, or a very small opening into the
back of the oral cavity as you get into the pharynx so you don't have as clear a view of
the vocal folds
What are some of the limitations of the rigid scope exam? - ANSWER-Does not provide
a view of representative vocal fold activity during normal conversational speech
production because the person can only phonate a vowel, and not much else. (The
scope is in there mouth preventing them from articulating many other sounds)
limited or restricted view of vocal fold activity
What is an alternative to the rigid scope exam? - ANSWER-flexible scope exam
flexible scope exam - ANSWER-fiber optic scope that can be passed through the nasal
cavity over the top of the velum to shine down on the larynx from above
similar to rigid scope exam, you must have bright light source (fiber optic cables carry
light down through the tip of the scope to illuminate what you are looking at with a lens
at the end also connected to fiber optic cables to bring the image back up to a camera)
used mostly in a medical setting
