title: Relationship between oral sensory thresholds and depressive moods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims were to compare the sensory thresholds on the tip of the tongue with on the dorsum of the hand, and to investigate the relationship between the sensory threshold and depressive mood with volunteers whose psychological conditions were normal.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-five subjects (28 women, 27 men) took psychiatric structured diagnostic interview and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). In the next step, the quantitative sensory tests (light touch sensation and thermal sensory test) were carried out on the tongue and the hand. Then we investigated the relationship between depressive moods and sensory thresholds on the tongue and the hand using logistic regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sensory thresholds on the tip of the tongues were significantly different from those on the dorsum of the hands. Only on tongue tip, increment of SDS had relation to the thresholds of innoxious thermal stimulation (OR=0.152, 95% CI. 0.049-0.478) and noxious heat stimulation (OR=0.352, 95% CI. 0.169-0.734).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This finding might support for the idea that depressive mood had closer association with the tongue of the orofacial areas than the dorsum of the hand.
authors.affiliation: Maxillofacial Surgery, Maxillofacial Reconstruction and Function, Division of Maxillofacial and Neck Reconstruction, Graduated School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. y-watanabe.mfs@tmd.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kino
authors.forename: Shoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawada
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wake
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyachi
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyaoka
authors.forename: Teruo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Amagasa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D013697:Thermosensing; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch