Androgen Exposure at Puberty Remodels the Larynx
The instrument is not fixed at birth. Androgen receptors in laryngeal tissue drive growth in fold length and thickness at puberty, and the change is far larger in male than in female larynxes. This is the node that converts the abstract length-mass-tension relationship into the largest real cause of pitch difference between people, and it is the physical reason the seed paper reports males at roughly 5 SD below females in pitch.
Questions this Concept answers
- Why does androgen-driven growth of the vocal folds lower the fundamental frequency of a voice?
Vocal cords - Wikipedia
The vocal folds are layered folds of mucosa stretched across the larynx that oscillate in the airstream to produce voice, and their length, thickness and tension set the fundamental frequency. The in…