BACKGROUND/AIMS Swallowing is a complex function with the control of the swallowing center being located in the brain stem. Our aim in this investigation was to evaluate, in healthy volunteers, the oral and pharyngeal transit of 2 bolus volumes and 2 consistencies, and the influence of these boluses on the proportion of pharyngeal clearance duration/hyoid movement duration. METHODS Videofluor...

BACKGROUND Most information about pharyngeal collapse in dogs is anecdotal and extrapolated from human medicine. A single case report describing dynamic pharyngeal collapse in a cat has been published, but there is no literature describing this disease process in dogs. OBJECTIVE To describe the signalment, clinical presentation, concurrent disease processes, and imaging findings of a populati...

The pharyngeal muscles of Caenorhabditis elegans are single sarcomere muscles used for feeding. Like vertebrate cardiac and smooth muscles, C. elegans pharyngeal muscle does not express any of the known members of the MyoD family of myogenic factors. To identify mechanisms regulating gene expression in this tissue, we have characterized a pharyngeal muscle-specific enhancer from myo-2, a myosin...

Caenorhabditis elegans feeds by rhythmically contracting its pharynx to ingest bacteria. The rate of pharyngeal contraction is increased by serotonin and suppressed by octopamine. Using an electrophysiological assay, we show that serotonin and octopamine regulate two additional aspects of pharyngeal behavior. Serotonin decreases the duration of the pharyngeal action potential and enhances activ...