Functional magnetic resonance and swallowing: critical literature review

Aspects of the neuroanatomical representation of swallowing have been investigated in humans through brain mapping techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

This critical qualitative review of the literature analyzed international scientific publications in the PubMed database that investigated the activation of the central nervous system in humans during the act of swallowing.

This investigation was limited to articles that investigated adults older than 18 years, published in English or Portuguese, between January 2002 and December 2013. Publications that did not have access to the full text, that were repeated by overlapping keywords, case studies, literature reviews, letters to the editor, and those not directly related to the topic of the investigation were excluded.

A total of 649 articles were identified, of which 21 matched the inclusion criteria.

The main purpose of the manuscripts that investigate the swallowing process through fMRI were: to characterize swallowing in different pathologies; to compare swallowing in different age groups; to describe brain activation in different stimulation conditions. These studies indicate multiple cortical regions involved in swallowing control. Overall, the studies indicate that fMRI is a non-invasive and quantitative method that allows the investigation of characteristics that are quite often not clinically visible.