MRI & CT studies of the developing vocal tract

Imaging and acoustic methods are used to provide detailed information on the typical and atypical anatomic development of the vocal tract. The data will establish normative references that inform sex- and age-specific modeling of the vocal tract and provide a foundation for intervention strategies that are designed to modify developmental patterns in anatomy, physiology, or acoustic output. The information to be obtained is central to the needs of several clinical specialties concerned with behaviors such as feeding, swallowing, speech production, and respiration; also, the data can be used to test prevailing theories on craniofacial development.