Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel Bomb here. The larynx may not
Speaker 1: get the same amount of attention as the heart or lungs,
Speaker 1: but it's still an important internal organ nestled in the
Speaker 1: necks of people and other animals. The larynx helps allow
Speaker 1: for noisemaking and speech, and is located below the epiglottis,
Speaker 1: which is the leaf shaped flap that prevents choking by
Speaker 1: keeping food and drink out of the lungs. Part of
Speaker 1: the larynx structure includes the voice box, also sometimes referred
Speaker 1: to as the vocal chords. It's what makes up the
Speaker 1: bump that you can see and feel in the middle
Speaker 1: of your neck, scientifically known as the laryngeal prominence, but
Speaker 1: more commonly called the Adam's apple. Women have one too,
Speaker 1: just often less pronounced. During childhood, the voice boxes of
Speaker 1: boys and girls are about the same size, but when
Speaker 1: most boys hit their tween and teen years, their vocal
Speaker 1: chords hit a growth spurt. The growth causes their voices
Speaker 1: to crack and eventually results in a deeper and more
Speaker 1: resonant tone. So let's look at how the voice box
Speaker 1: or vocal chords work. First off, neither moniker is really accurate.
Speaker 1: The vocal chords are actually two bands of flexible, smooth
Speaker 1: muscle tissue that are located in the larynx, and these
Speaker 1: muscles vibrate as air moves through them on its way
Speaker 1: to or from the lungs. They're more properly called folds
Speaker 1: instead of chords. We spoke via email with gi Zeppe
Speaker 1: Araguna m D. He explained during sound production, the vocal
Speaker 1: folds closed together and start vibrating as air is expelled
Speaker 1: from the lungs and passes between them and into your mouth,
Speaker 1: which helps to make the sounds we hear when we're
Speaker 1: listening to people talk. So, the larynx is made up
Speaker 1: of a cartilage skeleton that contains the vocal folds covered
Speaker 1: by a mucous lining. The folds are extremely adept at
Speaker 1: changing shape, position, and mention, so the voice can make
Speaker 1: a range of sounds at a variety of levels. If
Speaker 1: the larynx becomes inflamed because of illness or injury, the
Speaker 1: vocal chords can swell and cause laryngitis, which is characterized
Speaker 1: by a hoarse, gravelly sounding voice or the loss of
Speaker 1: one's voice altogether. But we also spoke by email with
Speaker 1: Taylor Graber m d. He said, if they're swelling to
Speaker 1: a vocal chord from overuse, cancers, or trauma, the tone
Speaker 1: and function produced by the vocal cord becomes altered. The
Speaker 1: sounds can also change by injury to the muscles or
Speaker 1: to the nerves that innervate or give sensation to the
Speaker 1: vocal chords. However, there are several sounds that we can
Speaker 1: produce without a larynx, even speech via whispering. When you whisper,
Speaker 1: the vocal chords can stay slack and not vibrate. But
Speaker 1: this is known as an open throat whisper, and it
Speaker 1: allows people who are mute to make sound. It's also
Speaker 1: a helpful technique for people who are resting their voices,
Speaker 1: such as singers sore those with a sore throat. However,
Speaker 1: most people don't use this passive technique when they whisper. Instead,
Speaker 1: they strain to produce a sound, and this can be
Speaker 1: just as harmful to the vocal cords as shouting. But hey,
Speaker 1: if humans and other animals all have a larynx, then
Speaker 1: why is speaking a uniquely human ability. Our brain formation
Speaker 1: has something to do with it, but people have an
Speaker 1: especially complex system comprising the larynx which produces sound, and
Speaker 1: a flexible mouth, tongue, and lips that, in combination, allows
Speaker 1: us to generate the precise sounds that language requires. When
Speaker 1: we talk, air moves from the lungs through the larynx,
Speaker 1: and that sound is shaped by the extreme fine motor
Speaker 1: control found in the throat, mouth, tongue, and lips. We
Speaker 1: also have a bone called the highoid. This is a
Speaker 1: U shaped bone situated at the front of throat above
Speaker 1: the larynx. According to Graber, he said it forms the
Speaker 1: attachment from multiple muscles and the neck, which aid in
Speaker 1: tongue movement and swallowing. What's really unusual about this larynx
Speaker 1: related bone is that it has the distinction of being
Speaker 1: the only bone in the human body that's free floating,
Speaker 1: which means it isn't connected to any other bone. Instead,
Speaker 1: it's supported by connective tissue. The hyoid is only found
Speaker 1: in humans and Neanderthals and is believed to be the
Speaker 1: foundation of our ability to speak. There are about sixty
Speaker 1: people in the United States who have had their larynx removed,
Speaker 1: but only a few who have had a larynx transplant.
Speaker 1: A few people qualify, and if they do, the surgery
Speaker 1: is complex that takes about eighteen hours, and is hampered
Speaker 1: by shortage of larynx available to transplant. However, new initiatives,
Speaker 1: including lap grown and three D printed larynx, have the
Speaker 1: potential to help people recover their own voices again. Today's
Speaker 1: episode was written by Laurie al Dove and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Klang. For more in this and not of other
Speaker 1: craft topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is production of I Heart Radio or more podcasts. My
Speaker 1: heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.