Targeting Unlesioned Pharyngeal Motor Cortex Improves Swallowing in Healthy Individuals and After Dysphagic Stroke

Background & AimsPatients with stroke experience swallowing problems (dysphagia); increased risk of aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, and dehydration; and have increased mortality. We investigated the behavioral and neurophysiological effects of a new neurostimulation technique (paired associative stimulation [PAS]), applied to the pharyngeal motor cortex, on swallowing function in healthy individuals and patients with dysphagia from...