Effect of Attention on Chewing and Swallowing Behaviors in Healthy Humans

We examined how attention alters chewing and swallowing behaviors. Twenty-one healthy volunteers were asked to freely eat 8 g of steamed rice in three separate trials, and we obtained the average number of chewing cycles (N) and chewing duration (T) prior to the first swallow in each trial. We also conducted an N-limited test, in which participants chewed the food while independently counting the number of chewing cycles and swallowed the food when they reached N, and a T-limited test, in which they chewed the food for T sec and then swallowed. We recorded electromyograms (EMGs) from masseter and suprahyoid muscles and collected videoendoscopic images. In the N-limited test, chewing speed decreased, masseter muscle activity (area under the curve of the rectified EMG burst) per cycle increased, and suprahyoid muscle activity per cycle decreased. In the T-limited test, the chewing speed increased, muscle activities per cycle decreased, and the number of cycles increased. The occurrence frequency of bolus propulsion into the pharynx before swallowing was smaller in the N- and T-limited tests than in the free chewing test. Further, the whiteout time was longer in the T-limited test than in the free chewing test. Attentional chewing changes not only chewing but also swallowing behavior.