Further Observations on the Neurochronaxic Theory of Voice Production
Henry J. Rubin · Archives of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 1960
The French physiologist Husson1advanced the hypothesis in 1950 that the vocal cords are capable of vibrating independently of the subglottic air column. He believes that impulses arising from various cerebral levels are transmitted via the recurrent laryngeal nerves to the thyroarytenoid muscles and that these respond in phase to the neural stimuli by active lateral contractions. This is in direct contradiction to long-standing prevailing opinion that the vocal cords are passive in their vibratory behavior, moving in phonation only as a result of pressure exerted by air emitted upward from the lungs. Husson's hypothesis has been the subject of considerable experimental investigation and has presumably been authenticated by anatomic,2electromyographic,3,4and photographic studies.5 Opposition appeared promptly, and an imposing array of contrary experimental evidence has accumulated,6-12which was previously reviewed.13In the latter communication the author, utilizing high-speed photography at 5,000 frames per