An fMRI Study of the Brain Network Involved in Teeth Tapping in Elderly Adults

Cortical activity during jaw movement has been analyzed using various non-invasive brain imaging methods, but the contribution of orofacial sensory input to voluntary jaw movements remains unclear. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe brain activities during a simple teeth tapping task in adult dentulous (AD), older dentulous (OD), and older edentulous subjects who wore dentures (OEd) or did not wear dentures (OE) to analyze their functional network connections. (1) To assess the effect of age on natural activation patterns during teeth tapping, a comparison of groups with natural dentition—AD and OD—was undertaken. A general linear model analysis indicated that the major activated site in the AD group was the primary sensory cortex (SI) and motor cortex (MI) (p < 0.05, family wise error corrected). In the OD group, teeth tapping induced brain activity at various foci (p < 0.05, family wise error corrected), including the SI, MI, insula cortex, supplementary motor cortex (SMC)/premotor cortex (PMA), cerebellum, thalamus, and basal ganglia in each group. (2) Group comparisons between the OD and OEd subjects showed decreased activity in the SI, MI, Brodmann’s area 6 (BA6), thalamus (ventral posteromedial nucleus, VPM), basal ganglia, and insular cortex (p ¡ 0.005, uncorrected). This suggested that the decreased S1/M1 activity in the OEd group was related to missing teeth, which led to reduced periodontal afferents. (3) A conjunction analysis in the OD and OEd/OE groups revealed that commonly activated areas were the MI, SI, cerebellum, BA6, thalamus (VPM), and basal ganglia (putamen; p < 0.05, FWE corrected). These areas have been associated with voluntary movements. (4) Psychophysiological interaction analysis (OEd vs OE) showed that subcortical and cortical structures, such as the MI, SI, DLPFC, SMC/PMA, insula cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, likely function as hubs and form an integrated network that participates in the control of teeth tapping. These results suggest that oral sensory inputs are involved in the control of teeth tapping through feedforward control of intended movements, as well as feedback control of ongoing movements.