# Neuromuscular changes in the aging larynx

> **NIH AG K08** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2026 · $161,892

## Abstract

Project Summary
Age-related vocal atrophy (ARVA) affects a substantial portion of the population. ARVA impairs voice,
swallowing, and communication, and is associated with social isolation, depression, and reduced quality of life.
Vocal fold muscles are thin, bowed, with an incomplete closure during voicing. The underlying reason individuals
experience ARVA is not well understood, and current treatments are often ineffective. Moreover, the diagnosis
of ARVA is largely subjective and shows overlap with Alzheimer’s disease-related vocal atrophy. Motor evoked
response studies are considered the gold-standard test to diagnose many neuromuscular disorders. This
electrophysiologic study produces a compound motor action potential (CMAP), which is a summation of muscle
fiber action potentials upon electrical stimulation of the motor nerve. The CMAP assesses the integrity of the
nerve, neuromuscular junction, and muscle. The candidate has previously used the CMAP to quantify the degree
of injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN), which is the primary motor nerve to the larynx, in an animal
model. The CMAP has been shown to detect acute changes in laryngeal innervation, measure conduction time
changes, and quantify the degree of recovery after injury. The candidate has developed a reliable method to
perform laryngeal evoked response studies in an aging rat model and human subjects. Pilot data have led to the
central hypothesis that there is progressive desynchronization of efferent nerve-muscle signal in the aging larynx.
The overall goal of this proposal is to quantify the neuromuscular changes in the aging larynx. The laryngeal
evoked response study is the primary outcome measure and will be performed in a rat model (Aim 1) and in
human subjects (Aim 2). The rationale for this proposal is that measuring neuromuscular changes in the aging
larynx can lead to targeted treatments for this condition. This proposal combines an animal model and human
subjects. While the two a

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11392975
- **Project number:** 5K08AG090629-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Neel Kishor Bhatt
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AG
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $161,892
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2025-08-15T00:00:00 → 2030-04-30T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11392975

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11392975, Neuromuscular changes in the aging larynx (5K08AG090629-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-19 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11392975. Licensed CC0.

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