Reflex Control of Human Jaw Muscles

Abstract

Introduction The main function of the masticatory muscles is to break food down into pieces small enough to be swallowed. These are strong muscles that generate very large forces across very short distances and apply themvia rigid teeth. Such large forces can easily damage the teeth and their supporting tissues, tongue, cheeks, and the joints unless they are controlled precisely and effectively. There is evidence that the masticatory forces are controlled very precisely and that these forces change from bite to bite, depending on the consistency of the bolus. However, we do not fully understand this control mechanism. Unless the details of the mechanism that controls the masticatory forces in health and disease are thoroughly understood, the diagnosis and treatment of masticatory-related dysfunctions (such as temporomandibular dysfunction) will remain at the present "symptomatic" state.The aim of this review is to discuss what is known about the control of the human masticatory system and to propose a method for standardized investigation. This review is divided into six parts. The first part discusses the activation of human jaw muscle motoneurons by the central and peripheral sources. The second part discusses the receptors that are thought to contribute to the control of human mastication. In part 3, the reflexes elicited in human subjects are discussed. In part 4, simulated chewing experiments are discussed. In part 5, recording and analyzing methods are discussed, and a new method for estimating synaptic potential in human motoneurons is introduced. Finally, in part 6, three frequently asked questions are used to discuss the issues put forward in this review.Presently, our knowledge of mastication and its control by various receptors is patchy. Most of the work in this area comes from animal species with which investigators have used widely varying reduction techniques (anesthetization, decerebration, curarization, etc.). In these preparations, when nerve pathways are the subject of the study, the nerve to be stimulated is dissected free and teased so that one or a few identified nerve fibers are stimulated. The synaptic potential that is induced by this stimulation is recorded by means of microelectrodes that are placed within the central nervous system (reviewed in Lund, 1991;Linden, 1990). It is also possible for investigators to initiate "chewing" in animal preparations, and to study the effects of various receptor systems on the development of force (Lavigne et al ., 1987;.In humans, one must establish the connections of various afferents to the motoneurons that innervate the masticatory muscles under static or dynamic conditions to begin to understand the mechanism and control of mastication. The human work is challenging, since direct recording from motoneurons is not yet possible and precise stimulation of nerves is not easily controlled. Therefore, various indirect measurements have been used for the study of synaptic potential in human subjects. In most of these studies, afferent nerves are stimul...

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