Vocal changes in different phases of menstrual cycle: An evidence from the acoustic, cepstral, and spectral analysis

Introduction: Spectral and cepstral analyses of voice have potential clinical implications and can be used as a quantitative acoustic index to assess vocal function in various phases of the menstrual cycle. However, only a handful of studies have attempted to investigate these measures to document the vocal changes across various phases of the menstrual cycle and the results are not conclusive. Therefore, the study aimed to document the acoustic, spectral, and cepstral parameters of voice across the four phases of the menstrual cycle. Methods: Phonation samples were recorded during four phases of the menstrual cycle –menstrual phase, follicular phase, ovulation phase, and luteal phase – from 30 female participants. None of the participants reported any hormone-related problems, presence, or history of any voice problems and had a regular menstrual cycle at least from the past 5 years. All the phonation samples were analyzed, and the acoustic, spectral, and cepstral parameters were extracted. Results: Fundamental frequency, H1-H2, and cepstral peak prominence (CPP) values were significantly different across the phases of the menstrual cycle. Across the phases of the menstrual cycle, the fundamental frequency, H1-H2, and the CPP values were optimal during the follicular phase and the deviant values were noted during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Conclusion: Future investigations could include the analysis of cepstral and spectral parameters extracted from both the phonation and speech samples that can provide more penetrating and ample in-depth insights into the voice changes across the various phases of the menstrual cycle.