Dr Sebastian Doeltgen

Qualifications

PhD (Speech and Language Therapy) (2009)

University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

 

Master of Speech and Language Therapy (MSLT) with distinction (2006)

University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

 

Certified Speech Pathologist (2003)

(Staatlicher anerkannter Logopaede)

Rheinisch-Westfaelisch Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen, Germany 

Awards & Achievements

International

§  2008 New Investigator Award, Runner up, Dysphagia Research Society (DRS). Awarded for doctoral research into the effects of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation on cortical swallowing motor control

 

§  2007 Medical Staffing International - New Zealand Speech Language Therapists' Association Doctoral Research Award

 

§  2006 University of Canterbury Doctoral Scholarship

 

Travel Grants

§  2011 Faculty of Health Sciences International Travel Award, University of Adelaide

§  2009 Faculty of Health Sciences International Travel Award, University of Adelaide

§  2008 Canterbury Medical Research Foundation (CMRF) Conference Travel Grant

 

Teaching Interests

Student Supervision:

Developed and co-supervised student research projects as follows:

 

§  Summer students

Mr Heng-Teck Chong (2008) - Effect of catheter size on pharyngeal pressure generation

Ms Pariya Behnami (2008) - Effect of age on pharyngeal pressure generation

 

§  BSLT(Hons)(Speech Language Therapy) or MSLT(Speech Language Therapy)

Ms Freya Gumbley (2006) - Effect of bolus volume on pharyngeal pressure generation

Mr Ali Abu-Hijleh (2008) - Effect of swallowing on Motor Evoked Potentials

Mr Aamir Al-Toubi (2008) - Stability of submental MEP recordings across time

Ms Frauke Heck (2009) - Effect of electrical stimulation on swallowing function

        

§  PhD (Speech Language Therapy)

Mr Aamir Al-Toubi (2010 – ongoing) - Sensorimotor control of swallowing

 

Lecturing:

§  Lecturer, (part time), Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, 2011; Masters level Anatomy and Physiology (SPTH 9121)

 

§  Invited Lecturer, Department of Communication Disorders, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2008;  2nd year Neuroscience (CMDS262)

 

§   “Dysphagia Intensive Week”- Professional Development Course, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. Presented module on “Peripheral Electrical Stimulation in Swallowing Rehabilitation” (2006 – 2008)

 

Research Interests

Imagine not being able to swallow! Dysphagia, or disordered swallowing, is a common consequence of damage to the brain with a reported incidence of up to 71% in, for example, stroke survivors alone. In addition to the up to 34,000 Australians affected by Dysphagia following stroke each year, many neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative conditions can also cause swallowing disorders. Even in the ageing general population without acute neurological damage swallowing disorders are common. Dysphagia can lead to the development of serious health complications such as aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, dehydration and choking. Individuals of all ages can be affected, from prematurely born infants to the elderly, both of which are vulnerable populations for which these health complications can be fatal. In addition, Dysphagia has a critical impact on the quality of life of patients and carers: Imagine not being able to enjoy a meal in public with family and friends, or constantly having to spit your saliva into a bucket. Overall, Dysphagia results in significant medical, social and health care costs.

Although there is a general understanding of how the complex process of swallowing is orchestrated, many questions about the precise mechanisms of swallowing neuromotor control remain unanswered. This includes questions around the complex sensori-motor processes occurring during swallowing, the precise effects of rehabilitative interventions on swallowing function and neuromotor control mechanisms, and importantly, the changes induced in these mechanisms by nervous system damage.

My research examines some of these questions using assessment tools capable of investigating biomechanical measures of swallowing function and neurophysiological measures of swallowing neuromotor control. Specifically, these include pharyngeal manometry, a technique that measures the pressure generated in the throat during swallowing, and transcranial magnetic stimulation, a non-invasive technique capable of painlessly stimulating neuronal tissue in the human brain through the intact skull.  

Publications

Peer-reviewed publications

Heck, F., Doeltgen, S. H., Huckabee, M. L. (2012). Effects of submental neuromuscular electrical stimulation on pharyngeal pressure generation. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Accepted for publication, in press.

 

Macrae, P. R. Doeltgen, S. H., Jones, R. D., Huckabee, M. L. (2012). Intra- and inter-rater reliability for analysis of hyoid displacement captured with sonography. Journal of Clinical Ultrasound, 40(2), 74-78.

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Ridding, M. C. (2011). Modulation of cortical motor networks following primed theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation. Experimental Brain Research, 215:199-206.

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Macrae, P. Huckabee, M. L. (2011). Pharyngeal pressure generation during tongue-hold swallows across age. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20:124-130.

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Ridding, M. C., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Huckabee, M. L. (2011). Task-dependent Differences in Corticobulbar Excitability of the Submental Motor Projections: Implications for Neural Control of Swallowing. Brain Research Bulletin, 84:88-93.

 

Doeltgen, S.H., Ridding, M. C. (2011). Low-intensity, short-interval Theta Burst Stimulation modulates excitatory but not inhibitory motor networks. Clinical Neurophysiology, 122(7):1411-1416.

 

Al-Toubi, A., Abu-Hiljeh, A., Huckabee, M.L., Macrae, P., Doeltgen, S. H. (2011). Effects of Repeated Volitional Swallowing on the Excitability of Submental Corticobulbar Motor Pathways. Dysphagia, 26:311–317.

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Dalrymple-Alford, C., Ridding, M. C., Huckabee, ML. (2010). Differential effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation parameters on submental motor evoked potentials. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 24(6):519-527.  

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Ridding, M. C. (2010). Behavioural exposure and sleep do not modify corticospinal and intracortical excitability in the human motor system. Clinical Neurophysiology, 121(3):448-452.

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Ridding, M. C., O’Beirne, G. A., Dalrymple-Alford, J., & Huckabee, M. L. (2009). Test-retest reliability of motor evoked potentials (MEPs) at the submental muscle group during volitional swallowing. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 178:134-137.

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Witte, U., Gumbley, F., Huckabee, M. L. (2009). Evaluation of manometric measures during tongue-hold swallows. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 18:65-73.

 

Gumbley, F., Huckabee, M. L., Doeltgen, S. H., Witte, U., & Moran, C. (2008). Effects of Bolus Volume on Pharyngeal Contact Pressure during Normal Swallowing. Dysphagia, 23:280-285. 

 

Witte, U., Huckabee, M. L., Doeltgen, S. H., Gumbley, F., & Robb, M. (2008). The Effect of Bolus on Pharyngeal Manometric Pressure Measurements in Effortful and Non-Effortful Swallowing in Healthy Participants. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabiliation, 89:822-828.  

 

Doeltgen, S. H., Hofmayer, A., Gumbley, F., Witte, U., Moran, C., Carroll, G., & Huckabee, M. L. (2007). Clinical measurement of pharyngeal surface electromyography: exploratory research. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 21:250-262. 

 

 

Invited Publications

Huckabee, M. L., & Doeltgen, S. H. Functional Neurophysiology of Swallowing. In: Newman, R.D. & Nightingale, J.M. (Eds.) (2012) Videofluoroscopy: A Multidisciplinary Team Approach. Plural Publishing: San Diego

 

Huckabee, M. L., Doeltgen, S. H. (2009). Die Entwicklung von Rehabilitationsansätzen für pharyngeale Bewegungsstörungen:  Die Verknüpfung von Forschung und Klinischer Arbeit. In: Hofmayer A, Stanschus S. (Ed.) Development of evidence in Dysphagiology: from screening to treatment. Schulz-Kirchner Verlag, Idstein, Germany.

 

Huckabee, M. L., & Doeltgen, S. H. (2007). Emerging Modalities in Dysphagia  Rehabilitation: Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 120 (1263): 1-9.

 

Huckabee, M. L., Doeltgen, S. H. (2007). Position Paper of the New Zealand Speech Therapists’ Association (NZSTA) on Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in Dysphagia Management.

 

 

Reviews

Heck, F., Huckabee, M. L.. Doeltgen, S.H. A review of electrical stimulation in dysphagia rehabilitation - Ein aktueller Überblick über die Anwendung von elektrischer Stimulation in der Rehabilitation von Dysphagien. 2011. DysphagiEforum online. (E-Journal).Available from: http://www.schulz-kirchner.de/cgi-bin/sk/medium.pl?F=1&E=555555.

 

Doeltgen, S.H., Huckabee, M.L. (2012). Swallowing Neuro-rehabilitation: From the research laboratory to routine clinical application. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 93:207-213.

Published Abstracts and Conference Participation (International)

Doeltgen, S. H., Heck, F., Huckabee, M. L. Effect of submental electrical stimulation on pharyngeal pressure generation. Dysphagia. In print. Annual Meeting of the Dysphagia Research Society, 2010, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.

Al-Toubi, A., Abu-Hijleh, A., Huckabee, M. L., Macrae, P., Doeltgen, S. H. Effects of repeated volitional swallowing on the excitability of submental corticobulbar motor pathways. Dysphagia. In print. Annual Meeting of the Dysphagia Research Society, 2010, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.

Macrae, P., Huckabee, M., Doeltgen, S. H., Jones, R. Intra- and inter-rater reliability of hyoid displacement measured by ultrasound. Dysphagia, 24(4), 482-483. Annual Meeting of the Dysphagia Research Society, 2009, New Orleans, LA, U.S.A.

 Doeltgen, S. H., Huckabee, M. L., & Ridding, M. C. (2008). A Pilot Investigation of Triggering Methods for Motor Evoked Potentials of the Submental Muscle Group. Dysphagia, 23, 454. Annual Meeting of the Dysphagia Research Society, 2008, Charleston, SC, U.S.A.

Doeltgen, S. H., Huckabee, M. L., & Dalrymple-Alford, J. (2008). Influence of Muscle Contraction on Motor Evoked Potentials of the Submental Muscle Group. Proceedings of the Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research AWCBR, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Doeltgen, S. H., Huckabee, M. L., Dalrymple-Alford, J., Ridding, M. C., O’Beirne, G. A. (2009). Effects of Event-related Electrical Stimulation on Motor Evoked Potentials at the Submental Muscle Group. Abstract. Dysphagia, 23, 436. Annual Meeting of the Dysphagia Research Society 2008, Charleston, SC, U.S.A.

Doeltgen, S. H., Huckabee, M. L., Witte, U., Gumbley, F. (2007). Pharyngeal Pressure Generation During Tongue-hold Maneuver. Abstract. Dysphagia 22, 374. Annual Meeting of the Dysphagia Research Society 2007, Vancouver, Canada

 

 

Professional Associations

Journal Reviewer

§  Neurobiology of Aging

§  Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair

§  Journal of Neurophysiology

§  Journal of Applied Physiology

§  Clinical Neurophysiology

§  Brain Research

§  Dysphagia

§  Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica

 

 

 

Society Membership

§  Australian Society for Medical Research (2010 - current)

§  Dysphagia Research Society (2010 - current)

§  Australian Neuroscience Society (2009 – current)

§  Health Research Society of Canterbury (2009 – current)

§  German Speech Pathology Association (2002 – current)

 

Professional Appointments

§  Member of the Management Committee, Research Centre for Early Origins of Health and Disease, Robinson Institute, University of Adelaide. Strategic planning and development

 

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 21 Feb 2012