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J Appl Physiol (November 2, 2006). doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00456.2006
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Submitted on April 20, 2006
Accepted on October 27, 2006

Electromyographic activity during the reflex pharyngeal swallow in the pig: Doty and Bosma (1956) revisited

Allan J. Thexton1, A. W. Crompton2, and Rebecca Z. German3*

1 Physiology, King's College, London, United Kingdom
2 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
3 Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rzgerman{at}jhmi.edu.

The currently accepted description of the pattern of EMG activity in the pharyngeal swallow is that reported by Doty and Bosma in 1956; however, those authors describe high levels of intra-muscle and of inter-individual EMG variation. We reinvestigated this pattern, testing two hypotheses concerning EMG variation: (1) that it could be reduced with modern methodology and (2) that it could be explained by selective detection of different types of motor units. In eight decerebrate infant pigs, we elicited radiographically verified swallows and recorded EMG activity from a total of 16 muscles. Synchronization signals from the video-radiographic system allowed the EMG activity associated with each swallow to be aligned directly with epiglottal movement. The movements were highly stereotyped but the recorded EMG signals were variable at both the intra-muscle and inter-animal level. During swallowing, some muscles subserved multiple functions and contained different task units; there were also intra-muscle differences in EMG latencies. In this situation, statistical methods were essential to characterise the overall patterns of EMG activity. The statistically derived, multi-muscle pattern approximated to the classical description by Doty and Bosma [1] with a leading complex of muscle activities. However, the mylohyoid was not active earlier than other muscles and the geniohyoid muscle was not part of the leading complex. Some muscles, classically considered inactive, were active during the pharyngeal swallow.




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