Functional Organization and Connectivity of the Human Insula for Swallowing

我们的研究重点是吞咽的神经科学。尽管人类的大脑可能最能控制思维和运动，但大脑在影响吞咽、心率、血压和呼吸等无意识思维的功能方面也发挥着重要作用。我们的研究目标是大脑的一部分，脑岛，它在许多这些自动行为中起着至关重要的作用。由于脑岛的“多用途”性质，区分它的哪些部分参与吞咽，哪些部分参与控制心脏和血压，是具有挑战性的，特别是因为心率和血压在吞咽过程中往往会发生变化。我们将通过将吞咽、心率、血压和呼吸的生理记录与强大的大脑成像技术相结合来解决这个问题。这些方法将使我们能够将脑岛分成控制不同自动行为的区域。然后，我们将利用这些对吞咽和心血管功能的脑岛的详细神经解剖学的见解来识别横跨整个大脑的相应的解剖和激活网络。通过这些研究获得的知识将使人们对人脑的组织方式有更全面的了解，并有可能应用于几个科学和工程领域，包括神经科学、生理学、医学、神经外科和康复技术。

Our research focuses on the neuroscience of swallowing. Although the human brain is perhaps best recognized as controlling thinking and movement, the brain also plays important roles in influencing functions that occur without conscious thought such as swallowing, heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. Our research targets one part of the brain, the insula, which plays a vital role in many of these automatic behaviours. Because of the “multi-purpose” nature of the insula, differentiating which of its parts are involved in swallowing, and which are involved in controlling the heart and blood pressure, is challenging, especially because heart rate and blood pressure tend to change during swallowing. We will address this question by combining physiological recordings of swallowing, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing with powerful brain-imaging technology. These approaches will allow us to dissect the insula into regions that control different automatic behaviours. We will then use these insights into the detailed neuroanatomy of the insula for swallowing and cardiovascular function to identify the corresponding anatomic and activation networks that span the entire brain. The knowledge gained through these studies will provide a fuller understanding of how the human brain is organized, with potential for application in several fields of science and engineering, including neuroscience, physiology, medicine, neurosurgery and rehabilitation technology.