An analysis of lingual contribution to submental surface electromyographic measures and pharyngeal pressure during effortful swallow

Objective: To evaluate the influence of tongue-to-palate pressures on submental muscle contraction and oral and pharyngeal pressure dynamics during effortful swallowing maneuver. Design: Comparative analysis of 2 task strategies on biomechanic measures of swallowing. Setting: Research laboratory in a free-standing research facility. Participants: Consecutive volunteer sample of 20 healthy participants (age range, 20-35y). Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Peak amplitude of submental surface electromyography and orolingual and pharyngeal manometric pressure at 4 locations. Results: General linear model analysis of variance revealed statistically significant greater amplitudes for the tongue emphasis condition of effortful swallow at all measured sensors (P<.004). Conclusions: Tongue-to-palate emphasis during execution of effortful swallowing increases amplitudes of submental surface electromyography, orolingual pressure, and upper pharyngeal pressure to a greater degree than a strategy of inhibiting tongue-to-palate emphasis.