title: Test-retest reliability of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) at the submental muscle group during volitional swallowing.
abstract: Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) recorded from pharyngeal and anterior hyo-mandibular (submental) muscles at rest have been used to evaluate treatment effects on neural pathways underlying swallowing. This study documents a novel methodological approach of recording reliable intra- and inter-session MEPs at the submental muscle group during task-related volitional swallowing. MEPs were elicited by single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), triggered by a custom-made system when a pre-set level of surface electromyographic activity in the target muscles was breached. Fifteen MEPs were recorded during each of four sessions. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to assess test-retest reliability within and across sessions for blocks of 3, 5, 10 and 15 trials. Highly reliable intra-session reliability was achieved, maximal for blocks of five trials (0.915). Inter-session reliability varied between 0.474 (three trials per block) and 0.909 (10 trials per block). Surface electromyography-triggered TMS allows reliable measurement of MEP amplitude at the submental muscle group within and across sessions when muscles are pre-activated during volitional swallowing. This methodology will be useful for future investigations on the effects of pathology and modulation of swallowing neural pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Disorders, The University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. shd14@student.canterbury.ac.nz
authors.forename: Sebastian H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Doeltgen
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ridding
authors.forename: Greg A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: O'Beirne
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dalrymple-Alford
authors.forename: Maggie-Lee
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Huckabee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation