Orosensory contributions to dysphagia: a link between perception of sweet and sour taste and pharyngeal delay time

• Published in: Physiological reports Vol. 4; no. 11; pp. e12752 - n/a
• Main Authors: Pauloski, Barbara R., Nasir, Sazzad M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.06.2016; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Citric acid; deglutition; Deglutition - physiology; deglutition disorders; Deglutition Disorders - physiopathology; Digestive Conditions, Disorders and Treatments; Dysphagia; Female; Fluoroscopy; Gender; Humans; Kinematics; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Control; Neurological Conditions, Disorders and Treatments; Original Research; Patients; Pharynx; Pharynx - physiopathology; Physiology; Sensory Neuroscience; Sour taste; Studies; sucrose; Swallowing; Sweet taste; Taste; Taste - physiology; taste perception; Taste Perception - physiology; Time Factors; deglutition; sucrose; taste perception; Citric acid; deglutition disorders
• ISSN: 2051-817X; 2051-817X
• DOI: 10.14814/phy2.12752

Pharyngeal delay is a significant swallowing disorder often resulting in aspiration. It is suspected that pharyngeal delay originates from sensory impairment, but a direct demonstration of a link between oral sensation and pharyngeal delay is lacking. In this study involving six patients with complaints of dysphagia, taste sensation of the oral tongue was measured and subsequently related to swallowing kinematics. It was found that a response bias for sour taste was significantly correlated with pharyngeal delay time on paste, highlighting oral sensory contributions to swallow motor dysfunctions. Investigating the precise nature of such a link between oral sensation and dysphagia would constitute a basis for understanding the disorder. The results of this study highlight oral sensory contributions to pharyngeal swallow events and provide impetus to examine this link in larger samples of dysphagic patients. In this study involving six patients with complaints of dysphagia, taste sensation of the oral tongue was measured and subsequently related to swallowing kinematics. It was found that a response bias for sour taste was significantly correlated with pharyngeal delay time. The results of this study highlight oral sensory contributions to pharyngeal swallow events and provide impetus to examine this link in larger samples of dysphagic patients.