Increased viscosity of milk during infant feeding improves swallow safety through modifying sucking in an animal model.

Increased viscosity of milk during infant feeding improves swallow safety through modifying sucking in an animal model.

Mayerl CJ; Edmonds CE; Gould FDH; German RZ

Journal Of Texture Studies

2021

2021-03-30

Infants experiencing frequent aspiration, the entry of milk into the airway, are often prescribed thickened fluids to improve swallow safety. However, research on the outcomes of thickened milk on infant feeding have been limited to documenting rates of aspiration and the rheologic properties of milk following thickening. As a result, we have little insight into the physiologic and behavioral mechanisms driving differences in performance during feeding on high viscosity milk. Understanding the physiologic and behavioral mechanisms driving variation in performance at different viscosities is especially critical, because the structures involved in feeding respond differently to sensory stimulation. We used infant pigs, a validated animal model for infant feeding, to test how the tongue, soft palate, and hyoid respond to changes in viscosity during sucking and swallowing, in addition to measuring swallow safety and bolus size. We found that the tongue exhibited substantive changes in its movements associated with thickened fluids during sucking and swallowing, but that pharyngeal transit time as well as hyoid and soft palate movements during swallowing were unaffected. This work demonstrates the integrated nature of infant feeding and that behaviors associated with sucking are more sensitive to sensorimotor feedback associated with changes in milk viscosity than those associated with the pharyngeal swallow, likely due to its reflexive nature.

physiology; dysphagia; infant; animal model; suckling; viscosity

Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

journalArticle

1745-4603 0022-4901

NEOMED College of Medicine

Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology

NEOMED Postdoc Publications

April 2021 List