Influence of Attention Resource Allocation on Sequential Swallow in Healthy Young Adults

摘要

Despite the role of central pattern generator in swallowing, till date, there exists a contributing opinion on involvement of cortical structures. This has lead few researchers to contemplate cortical function involvement while swallowing using behavioral experiments. Hence, the primary focus of the study was to investigate if sharing attention resources affects swallow performance in healthy young adults. A cross sectional study design was adopted involving 30 gender matched healthy adults within 18-23 years of age. 100 ml water swallow test was administered on each subject across two conditions. In the baseline condition, subjects continuously ingested 100 ml luke warm water directly from the rim of 120 ml capacity cup. Based on which, volume/swallow (V/S), time/swallow (T/S) and swallow capacity (SC) indices were obtained. This task was compared with Concurrent Cognitive Task (CCT), which involved performing a cognitive task, namely Visual Feature Scan, simultaneously with 100 ml water swallow test. On comparison, between the two conditions, results revealed decreased V/S with longer T/S and decreased S/C for CCT condition. Statistically significant difference was noted at 95% confidence level when one way ANOVA was applied between the two groups. Collectively the results observed sheds light that allocating attention resources elsewhere hampers swallow performance. Thereby, highlights the existence of overlap between cognitive control and central pattern generator during swallowing.