Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32232540›Full record

Trial reportExperimental brain research2020

The effects of unilateral and bilateral cerebellar rTMS on human pharyngeal motor cortical activity and swallowing behavior.

Ayodele Sasegbon, Craig J Smith, Philip Bath, John Rothwell, Shaheen Hamdy

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Experimental brain research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
8.2field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Effect of bilateral cerebellar rTMS on swallowing function and swallowing phase in patients with dysphagia after stroke.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Ayodele SasegbonGastrointestinal (GI) Sciences, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Salford Royal Hospital (part of the Manchester Academic Health Sciences Center (MAHSC)), Clinical Sciences Building, Eccles Old Road, Salford, M6 8HD, UK.
Craig J SmithDivision of Cardiovascular Sciences, Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences, Lydia Becker Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, University of Manchester, Salford Royal Hospital, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre (MAHSC), Salford, UK.
Philip BathStroke Trials Unit, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
John RothwellSobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, University College London, London, UK.
Shaheen HamdyGastrointestinal (GI) Sciences, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Manchester, Salford Royal Hospital (part of the Manchester Academic Health Sciences Center (MAHSC)), Clinical Sciences Building, Eccles Old Road, Salford, M6 8HD, UK. shaheen.hamdy@manchester.ac.uk.
Salford Royal Hospital · GBNottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust · GBSobell House · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/P006183/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The cerebellum is recognised to bilaterally modulate sensorimotor function and has recently been shown to play a role in swallowing. Unilateral cerebellar repetitive trans-cranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) excites corticobulbar motor pathways to the pharynx but the effects of bilateral versus unilateral cerebellar rTMS on these pathways are unknown. In this three-part cross-over study, healthy participants (n = 13) were randomly allocated to receive unilateral or bilateral 10 Hz cerebellar rTMS. Participants were intubated with pharyngeal electromyography and/or manometry catheters for motor evoked potentials (MEPs) and pressure recordings. In part 1 of the study, single pulse TMS was used to measure baseline motor cortical pharyngeal MEP (PMEP) and hemispheric cerebellar MEP (CMEP) amplitudes, before cerebellar rTMS was administered. Repeat measures of PMEP amplitude were performed at 15-min intervals for an hour post unilateral and bilateral rTMS. Thereafter, in two further studies, a cortical 'virtual lesion' (V/L) was applied prior to cerebellar rTMS with pre and post PMEPs (part 2) and measurements of swallowing accuracy (part 3) using a behavioural task. Compared to baseline, unilateral and bilateral cerebellar rTMS provoked increases in pharyngeal cortical excitation (P = 0.028, 0.0005, respectively). Bilateral rTMS was significantly more effective than unilateral in causing cortical excitation (P = 0.0005) and in reversing the suppressive neurological (P = 0.0005) and behavioural (P = 0.0005) effects of a cortical V/L. Our findings suggest bilateral cerebellar rTMS has greater facilitatory effects on corticobulbar motor pathways to the pharynx than unilateral stimulation with the potential to be a more effective clinical therapy if its effects are reproduced in populations with neurogenic dysphagia.

Indexed as

CerebellumDeglutitionMotor CortexTranscranial Magnetic StimulationCross-Over StudiesElectromyographyEvoked Potentials, MotorHumansPharynxBilateralCerebellarCerebellumrTMS

Identifiers

PMID32232540
PMCPMC7413876
OpenAlexW3012364228

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.