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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 93/4/496    most recent expphysiol.2007.039610v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Sériès, F. Articles by Similowski, T. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sériès, F. Articles by Similowski, T.

¹ Centre de recherche, Hôpital Laval, Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de l'Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada² The 1st Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shen Yang City, Liao Ning Province, China³ Service des Soins Intensifs, Hôpital Universitaire Erasme, Bruxelles, Belgium⁴ Université Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie, UPRES EA 2397, Paris, France⁵ Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Service de Pneumologie, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France

Upper airway stabilizing muscles play a crucial role in the maintenance of upper airway patency. Transcranial magnetic stimulation allows the investigation of the corticomotor activation process for respiratory muscles. This technique has also been used to evaluate the genioglossus corticomotor response. The aims of this study were to characterize the response of different upper airway stabilizing muscles to focal cortical stimulation of the genioglossus. Alae nasi, genioglossus, levator palatini, palatoglossus and diaphragm motor-evoked potential responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation were recorded during expiration, tidal inspiration and deep inspiration in nine normal awake subjects. A concomitant response of the four studied upper airway muscles was observed in the majority of cortical stimuli. The response of these muscles was independent of the diaphragmatic one that was only occasionally observed. Significant positive relationships were found between alae nasi, levator palatini and palatoglossus motor-evoked potential latencies and amplitudes and the corresponding values of the genioglossus. We conclude that transcranial magnetic stimulation applied in the genioglossus area induces a concomitant motor response of upper airway stabilizing muscles with consistent changes in their motor responses during inspiratory manoeuvres.

(Received 18 July 2007; accepted after revision 18 January 2008; first published online 25 January 2008)
Corresponding author F. Sériès: Centre de Pneumologie Hôpital Laval, 2725, Chemin Sainte-Foy, Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada G1V 4G5. Email: frederic.series{at}med.ulaval.ca