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

这个博士论文项目将研究通过哺乳动物的颌骨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。研究人员将专注于人类和非人类灵长类动物，以确定不同的饮食是否对应于口腔和牙齿特定部位软组织（如神经，动脉和静脉）的浓度。这项研究将推进有关软组织，骨组织，下颌功能和饮食之间关系的知识，也可能为我们了解现代人类的颅下颌可塑性提供信息。该项目将支持本科生和研究生STEM培训，创建一个开放的在线扫描数据库，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。灵长类动物利用感官机制根据颜色、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，这些结构允许灵长类动物确定食物是否可以安全食用。为口腔提供感觉的主要神经是三叉神经的分支，它们穿过上颌骨和下颌骨。先前的研究表明，较大的神经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了解它们的功能很重要。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是同时与它们如何感知这些特性（即，韧性、硬度）。拟议的工作将使用microCT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与灵长类动物的饮食有关。据预测，适应吃树叶或昆虫的灵长类动物的牙齿在口腔后部（臼齿下）需要更多的神经，而吃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，与食用较软食物的个体相比，食用较硬食物的个体更多地操纵其口中的食物。这种操纵部分是由于灵长类动物如何使用神经来评估物体的材料属性，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，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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.