Читать книгу Dental Neuroimaging - Chia-shu Lin - Страница 60

The OBB framework highlights sensorimotor control of oral functions. The brain mechanisms associated with oral functions can be investigated using a task‐based study, in which brain activities are recorded concurrently when an individual is performing an oral function. The association between sensory or motor processing and oral functions can be modulated by different experimental conditions. For example, when chewing harder food, one should expect stronger sensory feedback from the periodontal tissue than soft food. In this case, changes in brain activation, as shown by functional MRI, would be identified at the somatosensory cortex, and this activity is known to reflect the intensity of sensory inputs (Onozuka et al. 2002; Takahashi et al. 2007). It is noteworthy that the interpretation of an association between task parameters (e.g. the hardness of food) and brain features (e.g. activation of the motor cortex) may be complicated. For example, when chewing a harder piece of food, one may pay more attention to the texture of the food. Therefore, the brain regions with activation may be associated with attention and cognitive control as well as sensory processing (Onozuka et al. 2002, Takahashi et al. 2007).