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Cortical activation during human volitional swallowing: an event-related fMRI study
S Hamdy1, D J Mikulis, A Crawley
1Department of Gastroenterology, Playfair Institute of Neuroscience, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 2S8.
The American Journal of Physiology
|July 17, 1999
Summary
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals brain regions controlling swallowing. This study mapped cortical activity during swallowing events in healthy volunteers, identifying key areas involved in motor, sensory, and attention functions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- The cerebral cortex plays a crucial role in controlling human swallowing.
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) offers a noninvasive method to study brain activity related to specific tasks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the functional neuroanatomy of swallowing using fMRI.
- To map cortical activation patterns associated with the act of swallowing.
Main Methods:
- Employed a swallow event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm in 10 healthy volunteers.
- Acquired whole-brain blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal data during a 600-second swallowing task.
- Utilized correlation mapping with >99% percentile rank and spatial extent thresholding to analyze brain activity.
Main Results:
- Consistently observed increased signal changes in sensorimotor cortex, anterior insula, premotor cortex, frontal operculum, anterior cingulate, prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, precuneus, and temporal cortex.
- Detected less consistent activations in posterior cingulate cortex, putamen, and caudate nuclei.
- Found bilateral activations with significant lateralization in premotor, insular, and frontal opercular cortices.
Conclusions:
- Swallowing engages a multidimensional network of cortical brain areas.
- The identified brain regions are involved in processing motor, sensory, and attentional/affective aspects of swallowing.
- fMRI effectively visualizes the complex neural circuitry underlying human swallowing.