Course: Voice, Speech and Hearing

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Course title Voice, Speech and Hearing
Course code KEF/HRS
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Exercise
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech, English
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Course availability The course is available to visiting students
Lecturer(s)
  • Švec Jan, doc. RNDr. Ph.D.
Course content
- Voice, speech, hearing and quality of life, basic terminology, control system for voice production, evolution of speech, animals imitating human speech - Human anatomy: Basic terminology, protective laryngeal function, physical-acoustical analogy of voice production system - Anatomy and physiology of breathing for voice and speech production, upper and lower airways, ribcage, chest vs. abdominal cavity in breathing, breathing muscles - Spirometry - basic parameters, air volume during breathing and speech, lung pressure, relaxation pressure curve, keeping constant lung pressure during phonation - Acoustics of voice and speech: types of sounds (waveforms and spectra), fundamental period and frequency, principles of Fourier synthesis and Fourier analysis - Voice and speech production: Voice source. Source-filter theory. Influence of source and filter on voice - Resonance of vocal tract cavities: Formants, vowels; vocal tract shape and tongue position in vowels, Hellwag's triangle. Acoustic vowel synthesis - Voice: Anatomy and physiology. Laryngoscopic structure of larynx. Phonation vs. respiration. Cartilaginous skeleton of larynx. - External and internal laryngeal muscles, depressors and elevators, adductors and abductors, muscles controlling vocal fold tension. Cartilaginous versus membranous glottis. Laryngeal innervation - Layered vocal fold structure and simplified schemes. Elastic properties of the layers. Vocal fold frequency control (length, active and passive tension) - Recording of voice and speech: Microphones, dynamic and frequency range. Preamplifier, analog-digital converter (sampling frequency, bit resolution). Cables and connectors, audiofiles. - Objective and subjective properties of sound: pitch height, volume and timbre - Fundamental frequency of voice: (fo) vs. pitch, fo in regular and irregular voices, sound spectrography and fo, voice perturbation (jitter and shimmer), 3 types of signals - Acoustic pressure, intensity and energy. Sound pressure level SPL, sound intensity level SIL. SPL versus distance. SPL calibration. Sound level meter and its setup - Basic methods for voice examination and analysis. Sound spectrography. Voice range profile. Electroglottography. Photoglottography. Pneumotachography. Direct and indirect measurement of subglottal pressure. Laryngoscopy - Clinical examination and measurement of voice disorders: questionnaires (Voice Handicap Index VHI), perceptual evaluation, acoustic and physiologic measures, special diagnostic methods - Voice disorders (functional and organic), basics of their treatment. Selected organic disorders: inflammation, reflux, nodules, polyps, papillomatosis, Reinke's edema, innervation disorders, vocal fold cancer. Principles of voice hygiene - Speech: phones versus phonemes, International phonetic alphabet, phonetic transcription, vowels vs. consonants, consonant articulation, acoustic analysis of speech - Hearing: basics of psychoacoustics, Fechner-Weber law. Hearing threshold, hearing field. Loundess levels and equal loudnes contours, phons - Anatomy and properties of hearing organ: outer, middle and inner ear, sound distortion in hearing apparatus, organ of Corti and its function - Theories of hearing, Helmholtz, Bekesy, passive and active mechanism of place coding, inner and outer hair cells, their function and importance - Temporal coding in cochlea: sound representation in auditory nerve, phase locking, sound source localization, intensity coding, simulation of cochlear function - Energy and information flow in the hearing organ. Air and bone conduction - Methods of hearing examination. Hearing impairments types. Subjective and objective hearing tests: pitch forks, audiogram, tympanometry, reflexometry, otoacoustic emissions, BERA (ABR) - Correction of hearing impairments: Hearing aids and their differentiation. Clinical indications for allocating hearing aids. Cochlear implants

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture
  • Preparation for the Exam - 24 hours per semester
  • Homework for Teaching - 10 hours per semester
  • Attendace - 36 hours per semester
Learning outcomes
Basic knowledge on the topic of voice and speech production in humans and on human hearing.
Knowledge Define the main ideas and conceptions of the subject, describe the main approaches of the studied topics, recall the theoretical knowledge for solution of model problems.
Prerequisites
Natural interest in voice, speech and hearing is an advantage

Assessment methods and criteria
Mark

- Passing oral exam - Completing homeworks - Passing possible tests during the semester
Recommended literature
  • Vybrané časopisecké publikace.
  • Dršata, J. a kol. Foniatrie - hlas, Havlíčkův Brod: Tobiáš, 2011.
  • Havlík R. (2008). Sluchadlová propedeutika. Brno:Národní centrum ošetrovatelství a nelékarských zdravotnických oboru.
  • Mrázková, E., Mrázek, J., Lindovská, M. (2006). Základy audiologie a objektivní audiometrie. Medicínské a sociální aspekty sluchových vad, Ostrava: Ostravská univerzita, Zdravotně sociální fak.
  • Palková, Z. (1994). Fonetika a fonologie češtiny. Praha: Karolinum.
  • Sedláček Karel. (1956). Základy audiologie. Praha: Státní zdravotnické nakladatelství.
  • Švec. J. (1996). Studium mechanicko-akustických vlastností lidského hlasu. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého, Přírodovědecká fakulta, Katedra experimentální fyziky.
  • Titze, I. R. (2000). Principles of voice production (second printing). Iowa City, IA: National Center for Voice and Speech.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Science Study plan (Version): Biophysics - Specialization in General Biophysics (2019) Category: Physics courses 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: Winter
Faculty: Faculty of Science Study plan (Version): Experimental Biology - Specialization in Experimental Biology (2021) Category: Biology courses 3 Recommended year of study:3, Recommended semester: Winter