title: Brain activity and human unilateral chewing: an FMRI study.
abstract: Brain mechanisms underlying mastication have been studied in non-human mammals but less so in humans. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate brain activity in humans during gum chewing. Chewing was associated with activations in the cerebellum, motor cortex and caudate, cingulate, and brainstem. We also divided the 25-second chew-blocks into 5 segments of equal 5-second durations and evaluated activations within and between each of the 5 segments. This analysis revealed activation clusters unique to the initial segment, which may indicate brain regions involved with initiating chewing. Several clusters were uniquely activated during the last segment as well, which may represent brain regions involved with anticipatory or motor events associated with the end of the chew-block. In conclusion, this study provided evidence for specific brain areas associated with chewing in humans and demonstrated that brain activation patterns may dynamically change over the course of chewing sequences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1078, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quintero
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ichesco
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schutt
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Gerstner
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000502:physiology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology; D002638:Chewing Gum; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000502:physiology; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D011699:Putamen / Q000502:physiology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002638:Chewing Gum