Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions Activation
Introduction and aims: Recent findings suggest a potential correlation between mastication and cognitive processes. However, the comprehensive investigation into the neurobiological mechanisms of masticatory control, such as the impact of chewing hardness, on cognitive function, remains incomplete....
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | International Dental Journal |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020653925001005 |
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| author | Hansol Lee Ji-Hye Kim Seungho Kim Sung Ho Jang Yongmin Chang Youn-Hee Choi |
| author_facet | Hansol Lee Ji-Hye Kim Seungho Kim Sung Ho Jang Yongmin Chang Youn-Hee Choi |
| author_sort | Hansol Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction and aims: Recent findings suggest a potential correlation between mastication and cognitive processes. However, the comprehensive investigation into the neurobiological mechanisms of masticatory control, such as the impact of chewing hardness, on cognitive function, remains incomplete. This study aims to investigate the impact of chewing hardness, as an aspect of masticatory control, on cognitive function by examining brain activation patterns during hard and soft chewing conditions. Methods: A total of 52 healthy young adults (average age of 21.81 years; 24 men and 28 women) underwent fMRI scanning, during which 27 individuals chewed soft and 25 individual chewed hard material. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to elucidate the overlapping and distinct patterns of activated brain regions associated with soft- and hard-chewing conditions. Subsequently, correlations between these activated brain regions and neuropsychological measures were assessed. Results: Conjunction analysis revealed that both soft- and hard-chewing conditions stimulated brain regions directly associated with orofacial movement and spatial information processing. Two-sample t-test result indicated that the hard-chewing group had higher activation mostly in the caudate nucleus and frontal brain regions associated with cognitive function compared with the soft-chewing group. Furthermore, the activation strength of these brain regions positively correlated with neuropsychological measures. Conclusion: The findings suggest that hard-chewing may be more effective than soft-chewing in stimulating cognition-associated brain regions, potentially enhancing cognitive processing. Clinical relevance: Our study shows that hard-chewing activates brain regions linked to cognitive function more than soft-chewing. This suggests that harder chewing could be used as a simple, non-invasive method to enhance cognitive processing. Incorporating harder foods into the diet may offer a practical approach to support cognitive health and improve mental performance. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dea0e25a0d1e4b7ab93b293c4975975f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0020-6539 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Dental Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-dea0e25a0d1e4b7ab93b293c4975975f2025-08-20T03:09:11ZengElsevierInternational Dental Journal0020-65392025-06-017531798180710.1016/j.identj.2025.03.020Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions ActivationHansol Lee0Ji-Hye Kim1Seungho Kim2Sung Ho Jang3Yongmin Chang4Youn-Hee Choi5Department of Medical & Biological Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea; Institute for Translational Research in Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Medical & Biological Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu, South KoreaDepartment of Radiology, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea; Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea; Corresponding authors. Department of Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, 2177 Dalgubeol-daero, Jung-gu, Daegu 41940, Republic of Korea; and Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, # 680 Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu 41944, Republic of Korea.Department of Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea; Institute for Translational Research in Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea; Corresponding authors. Department of Preventive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, 2177 Dalgubeol-daero, Jung-gu, Daegu 41940, Republic of Korea; and Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, # 680 Gukchaebosang-ro, Jung-gu, Daegu 41944, Republic of Korea.Introduction and aims: Recent findings suggest a potential correlation between mastication and cognitive processes. However, the comprehensive investigation into the neurobiological mechanisms of masticatory control, such as the impact of chewing hardness, on cognitive function, remains incomplete. This study aims to investigate the impact of chewing hardness, as an aspect of masticatory control, on cognitive function by examining brain activation patterns during hard and soft chewing conditions. Methods: A total of 52 healthy young adults (average age of 21.81 years; 24 men and 28 women) underwent fMRI scanning, during which 27 individuals chewed soft and 25 individual chewed hard material. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed to elucidate the overlapping and distinct patterns of activated brain regions associated with soft- and hard-chewing conditions. Subsequently, correlations between these activated brain regions and neuropsychological measures were assessed. Results: Conjunction analysis revealed that both soft- and hard-chewing conditions stimulated brain regions directly associated with orofacial movement and spatial information processing. Two-sample t-test result indicated that the hard-chewing group had higher activation mostly in the caudate nucleus and frontal brain regions associated with cognitive function compared with the soft-chewing group. Furthermore, the activation strength of these brain regions positively correlated with neuropsychological measures. Conclusion: The findings suggest that hard-chewing may be more effective than soft-chewing in stimulating cognition-associated brain regions, potentially enhancing cognitive processing. Clinical relevance: Our study shows that hard-chewing activates brain regions linked to cognitive function more than soft-chewing. This suggests that harder chewing could be used as a simple, non-invasive method to enhance cognitive processing. Incorporating harder foods into the diet may offer a practical approach to support cognitive health and improve mental performance.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020653925001005MasticationHardnessFunctional magnetic imaging (fMRI)Cognitive functionMotor functionBrain activation |
| spellingShingle | Hansol Lee Ji-Hye Kim Seungho Kim Sung Ho Jang Yongmin Chang Youn-Hee Choi Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions Activation International Dental Journal Mastication Hardness Functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) Cognitive function Motor function Brain activation |
| title | Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions Activation |
| title_full | Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions Activation |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions Activation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions Activation |
| title_short | Effect of Chewing Hardness on Cognitive-Associated Brain Regions Activation |
| title_sort | effect of chewing hardness on cognitive associated brain regions activation |
| topic | Mastication Hardness Functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) Cognitive function Motor function Brain activation |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020653925001005 |
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