TY - JOUR
T1 - Dissociating the spatio-temporal characteristics of cortical neuronal activity associated with human volitional swallowing in the healthy adult brain
AU - Furlong, Paul Lawrence
AU - Hobson, A R
AU - Aziz, Q
AU - Barnes, G R
AU - Singh, K D
AU - Hillebrand, A
AU - Thompson, D G
AU - Hamdy, S
PY - 2004/8
Y1 - 2004/8
N2 - Human swallowing represents a complex highly coordinated sensorimotor function whose functional neuroanatomy remains incompletely understood. Specifically, previous studies have failed to delineate the temporo-spatial sequence of those cerebral loci active during the differing phases of swallowing. We therefore sought to define the temporal characteristics of cortical activity associated with human swallowing behaviour using a novel application of magnetoencephalography (MEG). In healthy volunteers (n = 8, aged 28-45), 151-channel whole cortex MEG was recorded during the conditions of oral water infusion, volitional wet swallowing (5 ml bolus), tongue thrust or rest. Each condition lasted for 5 s and was repeated 20 times. Synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM) analysis was performed on each active epoch and compared to rest. Temporal sequencing of brain activations utilised time-frequency wavelet plots of regions selected using virtual electrodes. Following SAM analysis, water infusion preferentially activated the caudolateral sensorimotor cortex, whereas during volitional swallowing and tongue movement, the superior sensorimotor cortex was more strongly active. Time-frequency wavelet analysis indicated that sensory input from the tongue simultaneously activated caudolateral sensorimotor and primary gustatory cortex, which appeared to prime the superior sensory and motor cortical areas, involved in the volitional phase of swallowing. Our data support the existence of a temporal synchrony across the whole cortical swallowing network, with sensory input from the tongue being critical. Thus, the ability to non-invasively image this network, with intra-individual and high temporal resolution, provides new insights into the brain processing of human swallowing.
AB - Human swallowing represents a complex highly coordinated sensorimotor function whose functional neuroanatomy remains incompletely understood. Specifically, previous studies have failed to delineate the temporo-spatial sequence of those cerebral loci active during the differing phases of swallowing. We therefore sought to define the temporal characteristics of cortical activity associated with human swallowing behaviour using a novel application of magnetoencephalography (MEG). In healthy volunteers (n = 8, aged 28-45), 151-channel whole cortex MEG was recorded during the conditions of oral water infusion, volitional wet swallowing (5 ml bolus), tongue thrust or rest. Each condition lasted for 5 s and was repeated 20 times. Synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM) analysis was performed on each active epoch and compared to rest. Temporal sequencing of brain activations utilised time-frequency wavelet plots of regions selected using virtual electrodes. Following SAM analysis, water infusion preferentially activated the caudolateral sensorimotor cortex, whereas during volitional swallowing and tongue movement, the superior sensorimotor cortex was more strongly active. Time-frequency wavelet analysis indicated that sensory input from the tongue simultaneously activated caudolateral sensorimotor and primary gustatory cortex, which appeared to prime the superior sensory and motor cortical areas, involved in the volitional phase of swallowing. Our data support the existence of a temporal synchrony across the whole cortical swallowing network, with sensory input from the tongue being critical. Thus, the ability to non-invasively image this network, with intra-individual and high temporal resolution, provides new insights into the brain processing of human swallowing.
KW - Adult
KW - Brain Mapping
KW - Cerebral Cortex/physiology
KW - Deglutition/physiology
KW - Female
KW - Fourier Analysis
KW - Humans
KW - Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
KW - Imaging, Three-Dimensional
KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW - Magnetoencephalography
KW - Male
KW - Motor Cortex/physiology
KW - Nerve Net/physiology
KW - Reaction Time/physiology
KW - Somatosensory Cortex/physiology
KW - Tongue/innervation
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.02.041
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.02.041
M3 - Article
C2 - 15275902
VL - 22
SP - 1447
EP - 1455
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
SN - 1053-8119
IS - 4
ER -