Neural control of oral somatic motor function.

The control and regulation of mastication and other basic oral activities require integration by brain stem cranial nerve nuclei of reflex inputs and commands from other central nervous system nuclei. A current conceptual model for understanding control of rhythmic oral motor activity postulates the existence of a central pattern generator, which produces the sequence of movements common to many oral functional activities. According to this model, the output of the generator can be influenced by activity in cranial nerve afferents or modified by signals from other central nuclei. The central control model predicts that the threshold for reflex responses will change during the jaw opening and closing phases of mastication so that the effect of sensory stimulation will vary with the concurrent activity of the muscular and central nervous systems.