Glottal Physiology and Gender Perception of Transgender Speakers

描述(由申请人提供)：这项研究将阐明人类喉部的能力，并告知发声和感知之间的关系。这项研究的长期目标是为变性人的声音护理提供信息和提供新的方向，从而改善变性人的生活，这些人认为自己的声音是作为他们首选的性别生活的一大障碍。不完整的性别表达可能会对TG个人的工作机会、人际关系和社会接受度产生负面影响。该项目的结果将推进性别转变的一个方面，这对被接受为自己的首选性别和过上成功、健康的生活至关重要。关于男性变性人(MTF)喉如何克服生物解剖学限制的知识，以及哪些声音参数有助于听者对性别的感知，可以用来制定声音护理和女性化治疗的标准。像其他人群的发声治疗一样，TG发声治疗应该基于对说话者发声机制的了解。它不应像目前那样，完全根据两个性别群体的规范价值观和假定的性别认知界限之间的差异来确定声音目标。与目前TG语音护理的想法相反，初步数据表明MTF的嗓音不一定是男性和女性的平均嗓音，通过和不通过MTF的人之间存在生理差异。这些数据表明，临床决策应该考虑到，MTF说话者假扮成女性，使用一种有别于非变性人男性或女性的声门管理技术。气流和胃电信号将被同时收集和对齐，以确定经过的MTF声音如何实现具有生物男性解剖学特征的女性声音。通过MTF发声生理学的机制将首次被详细量化，并与非TG男性和女性说话者以及没有实现女性发声的MTF说话者进行比较。来自同性恋、双性恋和变性人(LGBT)社区内外的100名听众将评判重复语音样本的性别，这些样本来自男性、女性和男性到女性(MTF)说话者。听者的感知将首先被用来将MTF组分为那些被认为是女性的人和那些不被认为是女性的人，以便这两个组的声门测量可以相互比较，并与男性和女性的非变性人组进行比较。然后，感知评级将与其他声学、发音和韵律变量(平均F0、频谱包络衰减、共振峰1-3、语调变化)一起输入回归模型，以便开发一个全面的模型，用于预测说话者将被视为首选性别的置信度。据推测，虽然F0是一个很强的预测因子，但气流和声门 闭合参数会提高模型对性别感知的拟合度。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究将阐明人类喉咙的能力，并确定语音测量(声门运动、声学、空气动力学、韵律)和性别感知之间的关系。声带生理学知识是为习惯使用男性发声机制产生女性声音的人群制定临床实践指南的基础。这项研究的产生和感知结果将为变性人的语音治疗临床方案提供参考，这些人在声音与他们喜欢的性别表达不匹配时面临歧视，这限制了他们为社会做出贡献和过上健康、安全生活的能力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This study will illuminate the capabilities of the human larynx and inform the relationship between voice production and perception. The long term goal of this research is to inform and provide new directions for transgender (TG) voice care, thereby improving the lives of TG people who feel their voice is a great obstacle to living as their preferred gender. Incomplete gender presentation can negatively impact the TG individual's job opportunities, relationships, and social acceptance. Results of this project will advance an aspect of gender transition vital to being accepted as one's preferred gender and living a successful, healthy life. Knowledge about how the male-to-female transgender (MTF) larynx overcomes constraints of biological anatomy, as well as which voice parameters contribute to listener's perceptions of gender, can be used to develop standards for voice care and feminization therapy. Like voice therapy for other populations, TG voice therapy should be grounded in knowledge of the vocal mechanism of the speaker. It should not resort, as it currently does, to establishing acoustic goals based exclusively on differences between normative values of two gender groups and assumed gender perception boundaries. Contrary to current thinking in TG voice care, preliminary data indicate that MTF voice is not necessarily an average of male and female voice, and there are physiological distinctions between passing and not-passing MTF speakers. These data suggest that clinical decision making should consider that MTF speakers who pass as female use a glottal management technique unique from non-transgender males or females. Airflow and EGG signals will be simultaneously collected and aligned to determine how the passing MTF voice achieves a female-sounding voice with biologically male anatomy. For the first time, the mechanism of passing MTF voice physiology will be quantified in detail and compared to non-TG male and female speakers, as well as MTF speakers who do not achieve female-sounding voice. One hundred listeners, from within and outside of the Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) community, will judge the gender of reiterative speech samples from male, female, and male-to-female (MTF) speakers. The listener's perceptions will be used first to divide the MTF group into those who pass as female and those who do not so that glottal measures from these two groups can be compared to each other, and to the non-transgender groups of males and females. The perceptual ratings then will be entered in a regression model with other acoustic, articulatory and prosodic variables (Mean F0, spectral envelope decay, formants 1-3, intonation shifts) in order to develop a comprehensive model useful for predicting confidence that a speaker will be perceived as their preferred gender. It is hypothesized that while F0 is a strong predictor, airflow and glottal closure parameters will improve the fit of the model for gender perception. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This study will illuminate the capabilities of the human larynx and determine the relationship between speech measures (glottal movement, acoustic, aerodynamic, prosodic) and gender perception. Knowledge of vocal fold physiology is fundamental for developing clinical practice guidelines for a population habitually using a male vocal mechanism to produce a female-sounding voice. The production and perception results of this study will inform voice therapy clinical protocols for transgender speakers who face discrimination when their voice does not match their preferred gender presentation, which limits their ability to contribute to society and live healthy, safe lives.