Recovery of swallowing function is accompanied by the expansion of the cortical map.
To determine whether multiple sessions of electrical stimulation (ES) applied to neck muscles improve swallowing function and whether this improvement is accompanied by cortical reorganization in patients with dysphagia, before-after trials were performed on eight subjects. ES was applied for 1 hour, 5 days a week for 2 weeks. Swallowing function significantly improved after 2 weeks of ES, and this change was found to correlate with cortical reorganization measured by corticobulbar output maps. This study suggests that multiple sessions of ES applied to the neck muscles improve swallowing function via a mechanism involving long-term cortical reorganization.
Oh
Byung-Mo
BM
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Gangwon-Do Rehabilitation Hospital, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Dae-Yul
DY
Paik
Nam-Jong
NJ
D000368:Aged; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome