Functional interaction of neural mechanism between chew and swallow

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H05522
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Prosthodontics/ Dental materials science and
• Research Institution: Niigata University
• Principal Investigator: Inoue Makoto 新潟大学, 医歯学系, 教授 (00303131)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 辻村 恭憲 新潟大学, 医歯学系, 准教授 (00548935) ; 伊藤 加代子 新潟大学, 医歯学総合病院, 助教 (80401735) ; 真柄 仁 新潟大学, 医歯学総合病院, 講師 (90452060)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 咀嚼 / 嚥下 / 歯科 / リハビリテーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We found that continuous pharyngeal electrical stimulation induces long-term facilitation on the swallow related cortical neural network in humans. In addition, chewing behaviors differ among several chewing tasks in that voluntary chewing changes the oral transport in a process of bolus formation and increases pharyngeal swallowing duration, which suggests that difference in individual chewing performance does not affect chewing duration in a certain range of bolus condition but depends on the saliva flow. In animal studies, we demonstrated that jaw opening reflex responses are inhibited during swallow, and modulation of neural excitability may occur in the brainstem. We also found that mechanical, carbonated water and proton evoked swallow are induced by activation of epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), acid sensing ion channel 3 (ASIC3) and transient receptor potential vaniloid 1 (TRPV1), respectively.

Free Research Field

口腔生理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

嚥下運動は，単なる咽喉頭への末梢刺激がもたらす防御反射ではなく，食品摂取のための消化管活動，これに伴い幸福感などを得るという意味では高次脳機能に深くかかわるものである．食品は口から入り咀嚼を経た後に嚥下にいたる．口腔機能や高次脳機能によって制御を受ける咀嚼運動と嚥下運動との機能的連関を明らかにすることは，摂食嚥下運動全体の理解や摂食嚥下障害患者に対する治療的アプローチを考えていくうえでも意義深い．さらに，嚥下反射誘発に関わる複雑な末梢の受容機構を知ることは，摂食嚥下障害患者の安全な食事摂取のための食品開発における重要な手掛かりとなると期待する．