Event-Related Desynchronization and Corticomuscular Coherence Observed During Volitional Swallow by Electroencephalography Recordings in Humans

Swallowing in humans involves many cortical areas although it is partly mediated by a series of brainstem reflexes. Cortical motor commands are sent to muscles during swallow. Previous works using magnetoencephalography showed event-related desynchronization (ERD) during swallow and corticomuscular coherence (CMC) during tongue movements in the bilateral sensorimotor and motor-related areas. However, there have been few analogous works that use electroencephalography (EEG). We investigated the ERD and CMC in the bilateral sensorimotor, premotor, and inferior prefrontal areas during volitional swallow by EEG recordings in 18 healthy human subjects. As a result, we found a significant ERD in the beta frequency band and CMC in the theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands during swallow in those cortical areas. These results suggest that EEG can detect the desynchronized activity and oscillatory interaction between the cortex and pharyngeal muscles in the bilateral sensorimotor, premotor, and inferior prefrontal areas during volitional swallow in humans.