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The Vocalis Muscle as the Active Element Inside the Vocal Fold

Supports mechanism hypothesis 3. The vocalis is the medial thyroarytenoid bundle running inside the fold itself; its contraction tunes fold tension and therefore frequency, and like any muscle it has a membrane potential a potassium channel could touch. Narrowest and most direct of the three routes.

Questions this Concept answers

Why can contraction of the vocalis muscle change the frequency at which the fold vibrates?

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Thyroarytenoid muscle

The thyroarytenoid is the broad, thin muscle that forms the body of the vocal fold, running from the inner angle of the thyroid cartilage back to the arytenoid cartilage and innervated by the recurre…