1. Mind your teeth-The relationship between mastication and cognition.
- Author
-
Weijenberg RAF, Delwel S, Ho BV, van der Maarel-Wierink CD, and Lobbezoo F
- Subjects
- Aged, Animals, Brain physiology, Dementia complications, Humans, Mice, Middle Aged, Models, Animal, Cognition physiology, Dementia physiopathology, Mastication physiology
- Abstract
This article explores the multifactorial relationship between mastication and cognition, with a focus on dementia. Older persons, especially those with dementia, are at great risk of suffering from oral health problems such as orofacial pain and loss of natural teeth. A possible explanation could be that the cognitive and motor impairments resulting from dementia cause a decrease in self-care and as such, a worsening of oral health. An alternative explanation is that cognition and oral health influence each other. Animal studies show that a decrease in masticatory activity, for example, due to a soft diet or loss of teeth, causes memory loss and neuronal degeneration. The relationship between mastication and cognition has also been researched in human studies, but a cause-effect relationship has not been proven. It is likely that multiple factors play a role in this relationship, such as self-care, nutrition, stress and pain., (© 2018 The Authors. Gerodontology published by Gerodontology Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF