| MadSci Network: Anatomy |
Dear Curious Student, It does seem possible to affect voice quality even in adults by administering androgens, since this virilizes voice in women. see "A report on alterations to the speaking and singing voices of 4 women following hormonal therapy" by J. Baker, in the journal J. Voice, vol. 13, p. 496-507, 1999. However, it seems unlikely to me that modest fluctuations in circulating testosterone in adult men would have any detectable effect on the vocal cords, for 2 reasons. 1) The adult range in blood testosterone levels is above the minimum needed for most biological effects; elevations above this minimum tend not to affect physiology. 2) If a substantial drop in circulating testosterone had noticeable effects upon the voice, one would expect to see a feminization of the voice in older men, who experience a decline in serum testosterone (eg., see S. J. Winters, et al., "Serum LH concentrations in hypogonadal men during transdermal testosterone replacement through scrotal skin: further evidence that ageing enhances testosterone negative feedback" Clin. Endocrinology 47:317-322, 1997). So your hypothesis, while reasonable, may not prove to be true, at least, according to the information I know of. You might want to look at the literature to examine if the voice changes in aging men and if this bears any relationship to testosterone levels.
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