The effect of body position on the relative contribution of the rib cage to speech breathing and voice quality

Abstract: This study investigates how body position affects the relative contribution of the rib cage to speech breathing and voice quality. The frequently used upright and supine body positions are expanded with the addition of an inverted position as a condition. Five participants performed two speech production tasks across the three body positional conditions. The estimation of the relative contribution of the rib cage to speech breathing was obtained through respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP). Phonation type was estimated through the usage of the α-ratio, obtained with a neck-surface accelerometer. The results between the participants suggest a pattern regarding levels of the relative contribution of the rib cage in relation to phonation type, which offers opportunities for further investigation in future research.