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Dysphagia
Published in: Dysphagia 1/2013

01-03-2013 | Review Article

New Directions for Understanding Neural Control in Swallowing: The Potential and Promise of Motor Learning

Authors: Ianessa A. Humbert, Rebecca Z. German

Published in: Dysphagia | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

Oropharyngeal swallowing is a complex sensorimotor phenomenon that has had decades of research dedicated to understanding it more thoroughly. However, the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for normal and disordered swallowing remain very vague. We consider this gap in knowledge the result of swallowing research that has been broad (identifying phenomena) but not deep (identifying what controls the phenomena). The goals of this review are to address the complexity of motor control of oropharyngeal swallowing and to review the principles of motor learning based on limb movements as a model system. We compare this literature on limb motor learning to what is known about oropharyngeal function as a first step toward suggesting the use of motor learning principles in swallowing research.
Footnotes
1
An old tale, common to Jain, Buddhist, Sufi Muslim, and Hindu traditions, tells of three blind men who describe an elephant. The first, feeling the trunk, said that an elephant is like a snake, a muscular rope. The second, feeling an ear, said that an elephant is like a soft piece of cloth and very flexible. The third, feeling a leg, said that an elephant is like a strong pillar, covered in tough material.
 
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Metadata
Title
New Directions for Understanding Neural Control in Swallowing: The Potential and Promise of Motor Learning
Authors
Ianessa A. Humbert
Rebecca Z. German
Publication date
01-03-2013
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Dysphagia / Issue 1/2013
Print ISSN: 0179-051X
Electronic ISSN: 1432-0460
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-012-9432-y

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