Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2022-2023)

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.