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Age-Specific Clinical and Brain Features of Masticatory and Swallowing Performance
Chia-Shu Lin1,2,3,4, Wei-Chieh Kao1
1Department of Dentistry, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Journal of Oral Rehabilitation
|May 15, 2025
Summary
Mastication and swallowing performance show age-specific links to nutritional status and brain connectivity. In older adults, body measurements correlated with performance, and brain connectivity differed based on performance levels.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Physiology
Background:
- Mastication and swallowing are vital for food intake but individual differences in performance and their clinical/neurological correlates are understudied.
- Understanding these processes is crucial for maintaining health and function across the lifespan.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate age-specific associations between masticatory and swallowing performance with oral, systemic, and nutritional factors.
- To explore the relationship between these performances and functional brain connectivity using magnetic resonance imaging.
Main Methods:
- 118 healthy adults (younger, middle-aged, older) underwent masticatory (food-mixing) and swallowing (saliva swallowing) tests.
- Measurements included oral, systemic, nutritional factors (e.g., arm/calf circumference), and structural/resting-state fMRI.
- Seed-based connectivity analyses examined the sensorimotor network's functional connectivity (rs-FC) in relation to swallowing performance.
Main Results:
- Swallowing performance was not linked to oral/systemic factors, unlike mastication.
- In older adults, larger arm/calf circumferences correlated with better masticatory and swallowing performance (p=0.018).
- Older adults with higher swallowing performance showed stronger cerebellar-basal ganglia rs-FC (p=0.008); higher masticatory performance linked to stronger cerebellar-sensorimotor cortex rs-FC (p=0.045).
Conclusions:
- Age-specific relationships exist between swallowing, mastication, nutritional status, and brain functional connectivity.
- These findings underscore the brain's role in individual differences in masticatory and swallowing capabilities, particularly in older adults.
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