Key result
Voluntary cough predominantly activated the cerebellum and pons, whereas tartaric acid-induced and suppressed coughs activated higher sensory regions of the cerebral cortex and associated brain regions.
Why the study?
Previous fMRI model analyses did not capture real brain activity during cough, prompting accurate measurements using a restraint-free PET system during different coughing tasks.
Observational (n=24)
No
Brain activity during simple cough is controlled chiefly by infratentorial areas, whereas manipulating cough predominantly requires higher sensory brain regions for top-down control.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Distinguishes infratentorial control of voluntary cough from cortical involvement in induced cough; leaves open therapeutic targeting of these pathways.
Cough is known as a protective reflex to keep the airway free from harmful substances. Although brain activity during cough was previously examined mainly by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with model analysis, this method does not capture real brain activity during cough. To obtain accurate measurements of brain activity during cough, we conducted whole-brain scans during different coughing tasks while correcting for head motion using a restraint-free positron emission tomography (PET) system. Twenty-four healthy right-handed males underwent multiple PET scans with [15O]H2O. Four tasks were performed during scans: “resting”; “voluntary cough (VC)”, which simply repeated spontaneous coughing; “induced cough (IC)”, where participants coughed in response to an acid stimulus in the cough‐inducing method with tartaric acid (CiTA); and “suppressed cough (SC)”, where coughing was suppressed against CiTA. The whole brain analyses of motion-corrected data revealed that VC chiefly activated the cerebellum extending to pons. In contrast, CiTA-related tasks (IC and SC) activated the higher sensory regions of the cerebral cortex and associated brain regions. The present results suggest that brain activity during simple cough is controlled chiefly by infratentorial areas, whereas manipulating cough predominantly requires the higher sensory brain regions to allow top-down control of information from the periphery.
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Sugi et al. (2024) conducted an observational in Healthy volunteers (n=24). Coughing tasks (voluntary, induced, suppressed) vs. Resting state was evaluated on Brain regional activation during coughing tasks. Voluntary cough predominantly activated the cerebellum and pons, whereas tartaric acid-induced and suppressed coughs activated higher sensory regions of the cerebral cortex and associated brain regions.
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