Doctoral Dissertation Research: Neurovascular structures of the trigeminal nerve and their relationship to diet in primates

博士论文研究：灵长类动物三叉神经的神经血管结构及其与饮食的关系

• 批准号: 1944642
• 负责人: Claire Terhune
• 金额: $ 2.98万
• 依托单位: University of Arkansas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-03-15 至 2022-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1944642&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Neurovascular; structures

This doctoral dissertation project will examine the quantity and path of nerves that run through the jaws and teeth of mammals to establish if the size of these nerves is related to diet. The investigator will focus on humans and non-human primates, to determine if different diets correspond to the concentration of soft tissues (like nerves, arteries, and veins) in specific sections of the mouth and teeth. The research will advance knowledge about the relationships between soft tissues, bony tissues, jaw function, and diet, and may also inform our understanding of craniomandibular plasticity in modern humans. The project will support undergraduate and graduate STEM training, create an open, online database of scan data, and be used in a variety of science outreach projects and blog posts aimed at K-12 and general public audiences. Primates use sensory mechanisms to choose foods based on color, taste, size, and texture. These sensory mechanisms are controlled by nerves in the skin, eyes, mouth, teeth, and other structures that allow a primate to determine if a food is safe for eating. The primary nerves that supply sensation to the mouth are branches of the trigeminal nerve that pass through the maxilla and mandible. Previous research indicates that larger nerves relay more sensory information at faster speeds, suggesting that it is important to know the size of nerves to understand their functions. It has also been established that primate diets are intimately tied to tooth shape and chewing function, suggesting that the properties of teeth and their accompanying nerves are selected for simultaneously in relation to how they sense the properties (i.e., toughness, stiffness) of foods. The proposed work will use microCT scanning and iodine staining methods to examine the relationship between tooth shape and the nerves of teeth, with a focus on how these structures vary in relation to primate diets. Teeth of primates that are adapted to leaf- or insect-eating are predicted to need more nerves in the back of the mouth (under the molars), while fruit-eating primates are expected to have more nerves at the front of the mouth. This hypothesis is supported by data showing that individuals eating tougher diets manipulate food objects within their mouth more than individuals that consume softer food objects. This manipulation is partly due to how primates use nerves to assess material properties of an object to ensure that the individual does not damage their teeth during chewing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该博士论文项目将检查穿过哺乳动物下巴和牙齿的神经的数量和路径，以确定这些神经的大小是否与饮食有关。研究人员将重点关注人类和非人类灵长类动物，以确定不同的饮食是否与口腔和牙齿特定部位的软组织（如神经、动脉和静脉）的浓度相对应。这项研究将增进对软组织、骨组织、颌功能和饮食之间关系的了解，也可能有助于我们了解现代人类的颅下颌可塑性。该项目将支持本科生和研究生的 STEM 培训，创建开放的在线扫描数据数据库，并用于针对 K-12 和普通公众的各种科学推广项目和博客文章。灵长类动物利用感觉机制根据颜色、味道、大小和质地来选择食物。这些感觉机制由皮肤、眼睛、口腔、牙齿和其他结构中的神经控制，使灵长类动物能够确定食物是否可以安全食用。向口腔提供感觉的主要神经是穿过上颌骨和下颌骨的三叉神经的分支。先前的研究表明，较大的神经能够以更快的速度传递更多的感觉信息，这表明了解神经的大小对于了解其功能非常重要。还已经确定，灵长类动物的饮食与牙齿形状和咀嚼功能密切相关，这表明牙齿及其伴随神经的特性的选择同时与它们如何感知食物的特性（即韧性、硬度）有关。拟议的工作将使用显微 CT 扫描和碘染色方法来检查牙齿形状和牙齿神经之间的关系，重点是这些结构如何随着灵长类动物的饮食而变化。据预测，适应以树叶或昆虫为食的灵长类动物的牙齿在口腔后部（臼齿下方）需要更多的神经，而食水果的灵长类动物预计在口腔前部有更多的神经。这一假设得到了数据的支持，数据显示，吃较硬饮食的人比吃较软食物的人更多地操纵嘴里的食物。这种操纵的部分原因是灵长类动物如何利用神经来评估物体的材料特性，以确保个体在咀嚼过程中不会损坏牙齿。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，被认为值得支持以及更广泛的影响审查标准。