Figure 2. Definition of active and resting stage of swallowing-related muscle activity.

The EMG recording of one swallowing act is shown (surface electrodes, recording from the submental muscles). For the analysis with SAM, the beginning (M₁) and the end (M₂) of main muscle activation were marked. The activation phase and the corresponding resting phase were defined. To estimate the maximal null distribution a third marker (M₀) at the beginning of preparation activity was set and two background phases were defined (Methods).