Department of Removable Prosthodontics and Geriatric Oral Health, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan.
Research Institute of Oral Science, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 25;19(10):e0310513. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310513. eCollection 2024.
Even though the oral cavity is not visible, food chewing can be performed without damaging the tongue, oral mucosa, or other intraoral parts, with cross-modal perception of chewing possibly critical for appropriate recognition of its performance. This study was conducted to clarify the relationship of chewing food cross-modal perception with cortex activities based on examinations of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and visual cortex during chewing in comparison with sham chewing without food, imaginary chewing, and rest using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Additionally, the effects of a deafferent tongue dorsum on PPC/visual cortex activities during chewing performance were examined. The results showed that chewing food increased activity in the PPC/visual cortex as compared with imaginary chewing, sham chewing without food, and rest. Nevertheless, those activities were not significantly different during imaginary chewing or sham chewing without food as compared with rest. Moreover, subjects with a deafferent tongue dorsum showed reduced PPC/visual cortex activities during chewing food performance. These findings suggest that chewing of food involves cross-modal recognition, while an oral somatosensory deficit may modulate such cross-modal activities.
尽管口腔不可见，但咀嚼食物时不会损伤舌头、口腔黏膜或其他口腔内部组织，可能通过跨模态感知来正确识别咀嚼行为。本研究采用近红外光谱技术，对比咀嚼食物、假咀嚼、想象咀嚼和休息时的后顶叶皮层（PPC）和视觉皮层活动，以明确咀嚼食物跨模态感知与皮层活动的关系。此外，还研究了舌背感觉缺失对咀嚼时PPC/视觉皮层活动的影响。结果表明，与想象咀嚼、无食物假咀嚼和休息相比，咀嚼食物会增加 PPC/视觉皮层的活动。然而，在想象咀嚼或无食物假咀嚼时，这些活动与休息时相比没有显著差异。此外，舌背感觉缺失的受试者在咀嚼食物时PPC/视觉皮层的活动减少。这些发现表明，咀嚼食物涉及跨模态识别，而口腔躯体感觉缺失可能调节这种跨模态活动。
