Progressive disorders of airway protection, namely cough (dystussia) and swallowing (dysphagia) dysfunction, are highly prevalent in Parkinson’s disease (PD), impacting quality of life and contributing to the development of aspiration pneumonia – a leading cause of death in this population. To date, dysphagia rehabilitation has remained the primary (and often only) treatment target of choice by clinicians managing dysphagia in patients with PD and other neurodegenerative disease. This is a major concern since the progressive nature of PD makes it somewhat unreasonable to expect that treatments can fully rehabilitate swallowing dysfunction and eliminate chronic aspiration. Instead, rehabilitating cough dysfunction can serve as an adjunctive approach to promote pulmonary health. Considering that impairments in motor control and organization are primary features of PD, skill training may have a necessary role in cough rehabilitation.
Despite a growing body of research supporting the feasibility and effectiveness of cough skill training, a significant gap remains in our understanding of optimal skill training parameters that maximize treatment outcomes through motor learning. This document addresses this gap in the literature in a series of three research studies. Chapter 1 will begin by reviewing the current body of literature related to normal and disordered mechanisms of airway protection dysfunction in PD, skill training as an efficacious approach to rehabilitate cough dysfunction, and motor learning considerations to maximize treatment outcomes.
Chapter 2 will characterize motor performance and learning during a voluntary cough skill training paradigm, and evaluate the contributions of physiologic (i.e., lung volume) and treatment-specific (i.e., biofeedback) factors to treatment response in PD. Chapter 3 will then characterize trajectories of motor performance during multiple sessions of sensorimotor cough skill training and explore the role of task-specific predictors (i.e., variability, motor learning) on motor performance. Chapter 4 will examine the effects of cough skill training with variable practice on motor performance and motor learning and characterize contributions of laryngeal and respiratory subsystems to cough strength. This document will then conclude (Chapter 5) by synthesizing results from these studies and discussing clinical implications, limitations, and potential directions for future research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:columbia.edu/oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/bfpm-0b40 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Borders, James C. |
| Source Sets | Columbia University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Theses |
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