Abstract
The detailed mechanisms and neural networks underlying swallowing apraxia （SwAp） are unknown. We retrospectively examined the clinical symptoms and computed tomography （CT） brain images of 8 patients with suspected SwAp. We showed that SwAp is associated with the left side of the brain because the dominant hemisphere was affected in each case. Three cases presented with rippling SwAp and had damage to the precentral gyrus in the dominant hemisphere. In contrast, there was no common anatomical feature associated with stasis SwAp. We hypothesized that SwAp is a subtype of buccofacial apraxia because the brain areas involved in buccofacial apraxia were in close proximity to the areas affected in SwAp （observed in 3 of 8 cases）. However, from a semiology viewpoint we consider the 2 types of apraxia independent because they did not always occur together.
