The Development and Refinement of Neural Regulation of Chest Wall Motor Control for Voluntary Breathing During Simple and Complex Tasks

人类的语音需要对语音机制的呼吸、喉咙、咽部和口腔运动子系统进行复杂的运动控制。特别令人感兴趣的是对呼吸子系统的调节，以向声带提供气流和压力，以产生声音。大脑通过一种名为皮质脊髓束的神经通路来控制这种类型的自主呼吸。我的研究项目广泛地研究了健康儿童和成年人在非言语和言语任务中的胸壁运动。然而，在非语音和语音任务中，胸壁肌肉的皮质控制还没有被研究过，也没有被理解。我提出的研究将调查在4至30岁的健康个体中，在简单和复杂的非言语和言语任务中，肺容量、气管压力和口腔压力的神经肌肉控制。在我们的三项研究中，我们将测量胸壁运动和肌肉活动。将对这些数据进行特殊的信号分析，以深入了解与呼吸运动和任务复杂性相关的胸壁肌肉是如何被大脑控制的。第一项研究将解决肺容量和胸壁压力产生需求如何由运动皮质控制。成年参与者将执行需要低肺容量和高肺容量的标准化任务组合，以及低和高气管和口腔压力目标。使用相同的实验方案，第二项研究将调查儿童和青少年胸壁肌肉皮质控制的发展。第三项研究的目的是通过成人的经颅直流电刺激，通过运动皮质电刺激皮质脊髓通路。这项研究将帮助我们确定控制非言语和言语任务的大脑皮层适应性。这三项研究的结果将提供对神经通路如何控制自主呼吸及其发育的深入了解。本研究对了解和康复影响言语机制呼吸系统的慢性神经肌肉疾病患者具有重要意义。

Human speech requires complex motor control of the respiratory, laryngeal, pharyngeal, and oromotor subsystems of the speech mechanism. Of particular interest is the regulation of the breathing subsystem to provide airflow and pressure to the vocal folds for the production of sound. The brain, via a neural pathway called the corticospinal tract, controls this type of voluntary breathing. My research program has extensively studied chest wall movement for non-speech and speech tasks in healthy children and adults. However, the cortical control of the chest wall muscles during non-speech and speech tasks has not been studied and is not understood. My proposed research will investigate the neuromuscular control of lung volume, tracheal pressure and oral pressure for simple and complex non-speech and speech tasks in healthy individuals ranging in age from 4 to 30 years. In our three studies, we will measure chest wall movement and muscle activity. Special signal analyses will be performed on these data to provide an in-depth understanding of how muscles of the chest wall are controlled by the brain in relation to breathing movements and task complexity. The first study will address how lung volume and chest wall pressure generation requirements are controlled by the motor cortex. Adult participants will perform combinations of standardized tasks requiring low and high lung volumes in combination with low and high tracheal and oral pressure targets. Using the same experimental protocol, the second study will investigate the development of cortical control of chest wall muscles in children and adolescents. The third study has been designed to electrically stimulate the corticospinal pathway via the motor cortex using transcranial direct current stimulation on adults. This study will help us determine cortical adaptability for the control of non-speech and speech tasks. The results of these three studies will provide an in-depth understanding of how the neural pathway controls voluntary breathing and its development. This research has important implications for understanding and rehabilitating individuals with chronic neuromuscular disorders affecting the respiratory subsystem of the speech mechanism.