Investigation of Cognitive-Motor Dual Task and Swallowing Interaction in Healthy Young Adults

For many years, swallowing was thought of as a simple, reflexive activity controlled by the brainstem. However, studies on the neural control of swallowing have shown that cortical and subcortical structures of the nervous system are included in the neural control of swallowing, and swallowing consists of the pre-swallow phase, the oral preparatory phase, aoral phase, pharyngeal phase, and esophageal phase. And swallow prosses tarting with the perception of food.

Physical and chemical properties of the food, environmental factors, and motor, sensory and cognitive factors belonging to a person are effective in the swallowing process. Swallowing is an integral part of our daily life and we perform it together with other functions in our daily life. For example, while watching TV, in meetings, we continue to swallow/eat or drink. Even if we are not aware of swallowing, performing swallow and other functions at the same time. This situation called as "dual-task". 2 tasks performed at the same time always result in a decrease in the performance of one.

Swallow and dual-task are a current issue and there are few studies on this subject.These studies have shown that as a result of dual-task interaction, swallowing is affected by attention and cognitive capacity, and dual-task negatively affects swallowing performance. But, studies include simple cognitive tasks and are not suitable for daily living activities. There is no study that compares all visual, auditory and motor dual tasks during swallowing and considers the effects on liquid, thick and solid foods similar to daily living activities. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of visual, auditory and motor dual-task on swallowing and chewing function in healthy young adults. As a result of the study, the dual-task that has the most impact on swallowing and chewing function will be determined, and visual, auditory and motor performance changes will be revealed as well as swallowing and chewing functions. It is planned that the results obtained will guide the rehabilitation of swallowing disorder with further studies on dual-task exercises.