![]() Therefore chewing is a fantastic way to ensure that the dogs jaw muscles are exercised regularly.Ĭhewing may have a relaxing effect for the dog aswell as the other benefits described above. In particular, chewing ability has been shown to influence activities of daily living, cognitive status and quality of life (Frota de Alemdia et al 2012). ![]() In epidemiological studies, oral function and status have been shown to be related to physical, mental, and social health. Thus, the beneficial effects of chewing on cerebral activity have been suggested, because chewing uses the same neural pathways as cognition so pathways are less likely to decay if chewing is maintained (Sasaki-Otomaru et al 2012 Onozuka et al 2002). Chewing has been shown to be associated with increased cerebral blood flow, and several studies have reported increased cerebral activity following gum chewing in humans. Mastication is regulated by a neural population in the brainstem and a neural network including several brain regions. Therefore if a dog has been exposed to uncontrollable stressors, it might be beneficial to give the dog something to chew on. This implies that masticatory activity induced a positive anti-stress effect in animals (cited in Frota de Almedia. Biting during restraint exposure suppresses stress-induced catecholamine concentrations and therefore responses are reduced. Tooth loss and weakness of masticatory muscles causes impairment of masticatory function and chewing disability (Teixeira et al 2014).Īnimal experiments have shown that tooth loss or long-term soft-diet feeding causes a decrease in learning and memory ability (Wanabe et al 2002) Another study also revealed that soft-diet feeding after a weaning period reduces synaptic formation in the cerebral cortex and impairs the ability of spatial learning in the adulthood hypothalamus ( Onozuka et al 2002 Teixeira et al 2014). Mastication involves rhythmic and voluntary movements of lower jaw by the masticatory muscles.
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