ABSTRACT
This chapter is intended principally as a brief overview of the anatomy, physiology and neuroanatomy of 'voice production'. Voice production is dependent on three different, but interrelated, systems: the respiratory system – responsible for the manner and pattern of breathing; the phonatory system – responsible for how sound is produced at the level of the larynx; the resonatory system – responsible for the modification of the sound. The main purpose of the respiratory system is to maintain life by carrying air into the lungs where the exchange of gases, oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place. The phonatory system consists of the larynx, its extrinsic and intrinsic muscles and cartilages and the hyoid bone which, although not actually part of the larynx, has an important role as many of the extrinsic muscles of the larynx have an attachment to it. The resonatory system consists of the chest, the pharyngeal, oral and nasal cavities and the soft palate.
