Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Brain Struct Funct. 2018 Mar;223(2):955-964. doi: 10.1007/s00429-017-1535-7. Epub 2017 Oct 20.
It has been shown that swallowing involves certain attentional and cognitive resources which, when disrupted can influence swallowing function with in dysphagic patient. However, there are still open questions regarding the influence of attention and cognitive demands on brain activity during swallowing. In order to understand how brain regions responsible for attention influence brain activity during swallowing, we compared brain organization during no-distraction swallowing and swallowing with distraction. Fifteen healthy male adults participated in the data collection process. Participants performed ten 1 ml, ten 5 ml, and ten 10 ml water swallows under both no-distraction conditions and during distraction while EEG signals were recorded. After standard pre-processing of the EEG signals, brain networks were formed using the time-frequency based synchrony measure. The brain networks formed were then compared between the two sets of conditions. Results showed that there are differences in the Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma frequency bands between no-distraction swallowing and swallowing with distraction. Differences in the Delta and Theta frequency bands can be attributed to changes in subliminal processes, while changes in the Alpha and Beta frequency bands are directly associated with the various levels of attention and cognitive demands during swallowing process, and changes in the Gamma frequency band are due to changes in motor activity. Furthermore, we showed that variations in bolus volume influenced the swallowing brain networks in the Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma frequency bands. Changes in the Delta, Theta, and Alpha frequency bands are due to sensory perturbations evoked by the various bolus volumes. Changes in the Beta frequency band are due to reallocation of cognitive demands, while changes in the Gamma frequency band are due to changes in motor activity produced by variations in bolus volume. These findings could potentially lead to the development of better understanding of the nature of dysphagia and various rehabilitation strategies for patients with neurogenic dysphagia who have altered attention or impaired cognitive functions.
已经表明，吞咽涉及某些注意力和认知资源，当这些资源受到干扰时，可能会影响吞咽困难患者的吞咽功能。然而，关于注意力和认知需求对吞咽过程中大脑活动的影响，仍有一些悬而未决的问题。为了了解负责注意力的大脑区域如何影响吞咽过程中的大脑活动，我们比较了无干扰吞咽和分心吞咽时的大脑组织。15 名健康男性成年人参与了数据收集过程。参与者在无干扰和分心条件下分别进行了 10 次 1ml、10 次 5ml 和 10 次 10ml 水吞咽，同时记录 EEG 信号。在对 EEG 信号进行标准预处理后，使用基于时频的同步测量方法形成脑网络。然后比较了两种条件下的脑网络。结果表明，在无干扰吞咽和分心吞咽时，在 Delta、Theta、Alpha、Beta 和 Gamma 频段存在差异。Delta 和 Theta 频段的差异可归因于潜意识过程的变化，而 Alpha 和 Beta 频段的变化与吞咽过程中注意力和认知需求的各个水平直接相关，Gamma 频段的变化是由于运动活动的变化。此外，我们表明，食团体积的变化会影响 Delta、Theta、Alpha、Beta 和 Gamma 频段的吞咽脑网络。Delta、Theta 和 Alpha 频段的变化是由于各种食团体积引起的感觉扰动。Beta 频段的变化是由于认知需求的重新分配，而 Gamma 频段的变化是由于食团体积变化引起的运动活动变化。这些发现可能有助于更好地理解吞咽的性质以及各种针对注意力改变或认知功能受损的神经性吞咽困难患者的康复策略。
