Larynx facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Larynx |
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| Anatomy of the human larynx, anterolateral view | |
| Latin | larynx |
The larynx, often called the voice box, is a special organ located at the top of your neck. It plays a super important role in three main things:
- Helping you breathe
- Allowing you to make sounds and speak
- Protecting your windpipe from food or drinks accidentally going down the wrong way
Think of the larynx as a gateway. Its opening into the pharynx (the part of your throat behind your mouth and nasal cavity) is called the laryngeal inlet. This opening is about 4–5 centimeters wide. Inside the larynx are your vocal cords, which are key to making sounds. They help you change the pitch (how high or low your voice is) and volume (how loud or soft you speak). The larynx sits right below where your throat splits into the windpipe and the esophagus (food pipe).
Contents
What is the Larynx?
Your larynx is shaped like a triangle and is mostly made of strong, flexible material called cartilage. These cartilages are connected to other parts of your neck by muscles and stretchy tissues. The inside of your larynx is lined with a special moist tissue, except for the vocal cords themselves.
The space inside the larynx, called the laryngeal cavity, starts from its triangle-shaped opening and goes down to where it connects with your windpipe. Inside this cavity, there are two pairs of folds that stick out.
- The upper folds are called the vestibular folds. These are sometimes called "false vocal cords" because they don't directly make sounds for speaking. However, some unique singing styles, like certain types of Tuvan throat singing, use these folds to create very low sounds!
- The lower folds are the vocal cords. These are the ones that vibrate to produce the sounds you need for talking and singing.
The small, slit-like space between your left and right vocal cords is called the rima glottidis. Together, the vocal cords and this space are known as the glottis. The area above the false vocal cords is called the vestibule, and the space between the false and true vocal cords is the ventricle of the larynx.
Where is Your Larynx Located?
In adults, your larynx is located in the front of your neck, roughly between the third and sixth cervical vertebrae (bones in your neck). It connects the lower part of your throat (pharynx) to your windpipe.
The framework of your larynx is made up of nine cartilages:
- Three single cartilages: the epiglottic, thyroid, and cricoid cartilages.
- Three paired cartilages (meaning you have two of each): the arytenoid, corniculate, and cuneiform cartilages.
Even though it's very close, the hyoid bone (a U-shaped bone in your neck) is not part of the larynx itself, but the larynx hangs from it.
The Larynx's Building Blocks: Cartilages
There are nine cartilages that give your larynx its shape and support. Three are single, and three come in pairs.
Single Cartilages:
- Thyroid cartilage: This is the largest cartilage and forms what many people call the Adam's apple. It's usually bigger in boys and men than in girls and women. It protects the front of your larynx.
- Cricoid cartilage: This cartilage is shaped like a ring and forms the bottom part of your larynx. It's connected to the top of your windpipe.
- Epiglottis: This is a large, spoon-shaped piece of flexible cartilage. When you swallow, your throat and larynx move up. This movement causes the epiglottis to act like a lid, closing over the glottis (the opening to your windpipe). This prevents food and drinks from going into your lungs.
Paired Cartilages:
- Arytenoid cartilages: These are very important because they help move and tighten your vocal cords. They are triangular and sit on top of the cricoid cartilage.
- Corniculate cartilages: These are small, horn-shaped pieces of cartilage located on top of each arytenoid cartilage.
- Cuneiform cartilages: These are small, club-shaped pieces of cartilage found in front of the corniculate cartilages.
How Muscles Make it Work
The muscles of your larynx are divided into two groups:
- Extrinsic muscles are outside the larynx and connect it to other parts of your neck. They help support and move the larynx up or down.
- Intrinsic muscles are completely inside the larynx. They are responsible for controlling how you make sounds and how you breathe.
The intrinsic muscles have two main jobs:
- Breathing muscles move your vocal cords apart to let air in and out.
- Sound-making muscles bring your vocal cords together to produce your voice.
Intrinsic Muscles: Controlling Your Voice
These muscles are key for making sounds.
- The Cricothyroid muscle helps to lengthen and tighten your vocal cords, which makes your voice higher pitched.
- The Posterior cricoarytenoid muscles are the only muscles that can pull your vocal cords apart, which is essential for normal breathing.
- The Lateral cricoarytenoid muscles bring your vocal cords together.
- The Transverse arytenoid muscle also helps bring the vocal cords together.
- The Oblique arytenoid muscles help narrow the opening of the larynx.
- The Thyroarytenoid muscles shorten your vocal cords and can lower your voice pitch. A part of this muscle actually vibrates to make sound.
It's interesting to know that the muscles inside your larynx are very special. They are super fast and can work for a long time without getting tired. Scientists are studying these muscles because they seem to be protected from some muscle diseases, which could help us understand how to treat other muscle problems in the future.
Extrinsic Muscles: Supporting the Larynx
These muscles help hold your larynx in place and move it when you swallow or speak. Some muscles, like the Sternothyroid muscle, Omohyoid muscle, and Sternohyoid muscle, help pull the larynx down. Others, like the Thyrohyoid muscle, Digastric, Stylohyoid, Mylohyoid, Geniohyoid, Hyoglossus, and Genioglossus, help lift it up.
Nerves: The Larynx's Control Wires
Your larynx is controlled by special nerves that come from the vagus nerve. These nerves send signals to the muscles, telling them when to move. They also send signals back to your brain, letting you know what's happening in your larynx, like if something touches your vocal cords.
If one of these nerves gets damaged, it can cause problems. For example, if a nerve to the vocal cords is hurt, your voice might become hoarse. If both nerves are damaged, it can make breathing very difficult.
How the Larynx Grows
When babies are born, their larynx is higher up in their neck compared to adults. As a child grows, the larynx gradually moves down to its adult position.
How Your Larynx Makes Sounds
Sound is created right in your larynx! This is where you control how high or low your voice is (pitch) and how loud or soft it is (volume). The amount of air you push out from your lungs also helps control how loud you speak.
When you want to make a sound, your brain sends signals to the muscles in your larynx. These muscles bring your vocal cords close together. As air from your lungs passes through the narrow space between them, it makes the vocal cords vibrate, creating a basic sound.
This basic sound then travels through your vocal tract (the space in your throat, mouth, and nose). You change the shape of your vocal tract by moving your tongue, lips, and mouth. This is how you create all the different vowel and consonant sounds that make up words in any language!
Did you know that in most boys and men, the vocal cords are longer and thicker than in girls and women? This is why boys and men usually have a lower-pitched voice.
Remember the false vocal cords (vestibular folds)? While they don't make sounds for regular speech, they do help with the resonance of your voice.
More Than Just Sound: Other Larynx Jobs
The larynx does much more than just make sounds. One of its most important jobs is to protect your lungs!
- Protection from Choking: If any food or liquid accidentally tries to go down your windpipe instead of your food pipe, your larynx quickly triggers a cough reflex. You take a deep breath, your vocal cords snap shut, and then a strong burst of air blows them open, expelling the irritating object out of your throat. This is a vital action to keep your lungs clear. Throat clearing is a milder version of this.
- Helping You Lift Heavy Things: Have you ever noticed yourself grunting when you lift something heavy? Your larynx helps with this! You take a deep breath, and your vocal cords close tightly. This traps air in your lungs, making your chest stiff and strong. This stiffness helps you push down with your legs and lift heavy objects more effectively.
- Better Breathing During Exercise: When you exercise or need to breathe heavily, your vocal cords open much wider than they do during normal breathing. This allows more air to get into your lungs quickly.
- Guiding Food When You Swallow: When you swallow, your epiglottis (that spoon-shaped cartilage) acts like a trapdoor. It flips down to cover the opening of your windpipe, making sure that food and drinks slide safely into your esophagus (food pipe) and not into your lungs. If something does get past, the cough reflex quickly kicks in!
Keeping Your Larynx Healthy
Sometimes, the larynx can have problems, which might cause symptoms like a hoarse voice, losing your voice, pain in your throat or ears, or even trouble breathing.
Here are a few common issues:
- Acute laryngitis: This is when your larynx suddenly gets inflamed and swollen, often from a common cold or from shouting too much. It usually gets better quickly.
- Chronic laryngitis: This is a more serious, long-lasting inflammation. It can be caused by things like smoking, being around a lot of dust, or yelling frequently.
- Age-related voice changes: As people get older, the soft tissues in the larynx can weaken, leading to a weaker voice and a smaller vocal range.
- Sore spots: Sometimes, if a breathing tube has been in place for a long time (like during surgery), it can cause small sore spots in the larynx.
- Bumps on vocal cords: Small bumps called polyps and vocal cord nodules can form. Polyps are often linked to exposure to tobacco smoke, while nodules can come from misusing your voice, like yelling a lot.
- Larynx cancer: This is a serious condition that is strongly linked to repeated exposure to cigarette smoke and alcohol.
- Weak vocal cords: Sometimes, one or both vocal cords can become weak, which can make speaking difficult.
- Stomach acid irritation: If stomach acid comes up into your throat, it can irritate and burn your larynx.
Helping a Larynx When It Needs It
If someone loses the use of their larynx, they might use an electrolarynx device to help them speak.
Larynx transplants are very rare. The first successful operation happened in 1998 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The second successful transplant took place in October 2010 in Sacramento, California, USA.
The Larynx in Other Animals
Most four-legged animals (tetrapods) have a larynx, but it's usually simpler than a human's. For example, only mammals have a thyroid cartilage and a true epiglottis.
Scientists like Victor Negus and Philip Lieberman have studied how the human larynx and tongue are special. Our unique tongue allows our vocal tract (the airway above the larynx) to make many different speech sounds. These sounds help us understand each other clearly, even when we speak quickly.
Other animals might have a low larynx, but their tongues are different, so they can't make the same range of speech sounds as humans. Some animals can temporarily lower their larynx to make themselves sound bigger!
Interestingly, vocal folds (the true sound-making parts) are found only in mammals and a few lizards. Frogs, for example, use ridges in their windpipe to make sounds, and birds have a completely different sound-making organ called a syrinx.
A Bit of History
The ancient Greek physician Galen was the first to describe the larynx. He called it the "first and supremely most important instrument of the voice."
The word larynx comes from the Ancient Greek word λάρυγξ (lárunx), which meant "larynx, gullet, throat."
See also
In Spanish: Laringe para niños
- Articulatory phonetics
- Electrolarynx
- Histology of the vocal cords
- Origin of speech
