Martin Ruth, Barr Amy, MacIntosh Bradley, Smith Rebecca, Stevens Todd, Taves Donald, Gati Joseph, Menon Ravi, Hachinski Vladimir
School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Faculty of Health Sciences, Elborn College, Room 2568, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
Exp Brain Res. 2007 Jan;176(1):12-22. doi: 10.1007/s00221-006-0592-6. Epub 2006 Aug 5.
While brain-imaging studies in young adults have implicated multiple cortical regions in swallowing, investigations in older subjects are lacking. This study examined the neural representations of voluntary saliva swallowing and water swallowing in older adults. Nine healthy females were examined with event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while laryngeal swallow-related movements were recorded. Swallowing in the older adults, like young adults, activated multiple cortical regions, most prominently the lateral pericentral, perisylvian, and anterior cingulate cortex. Activation of the postcentral gyrus was lateralized to the left hemisphere for saliva and water swallowing, consistent with our findings in young female subjects. Comparison of saliva and water swallowing revealed a fourfold increase in the brain volume activated by the water swallow compared to the saliva swallow, particularly within the right premotor and prefrontal cortex. This task-specific activation pattern may represent a compensatory response to the demands of the water swallow in the face of age-related diminution of oral sensorimotor function.
虽然针对年轻人的脑成像研究表明吞咽涉及多个皮质区域，但针对老年人的相关研究却很匮乏。本研究调查了老年人自主吞咽唾液和水时的神经表征。对九名健康女性进行了事件相关功能磁共振成像（fMRI）检查，同时记录与喉部吞咽相关的动作。与年轻人一样，老年人吞咽时激活了多个皮质区域，最显著的是中央旁外侧、外侧裂周和前扣带回皮质。中央后回的激活在吞咽唾液和水时均偏向左侧半球，这与我们在年轻女性受试者中的发现一致。唾液吞咽和水吞咽的比较显示，与唾液吞咽相比，水吞咽激活的脑容量增加了四倍，特别是在右侧运动前区和前额叶皮质。这种特定任务的激活模式可能代表了面对与年龄相关的口腔感觉运动功能减退时，对水吞咽需求的一种补偿反应。
