Food for thought: Eating soft foods may alter the brain's control of chewing

(Tokyo Medical and Dental University) Researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have found that eating a soft diet during development leads to altered electrical activity and movement in the jaw muscles of rats in response to stimulation of the anterior cortical masticatory area. Their findings suggest that reduced chewing function may be at least partly improved by simple treatments that involve increasing the difficulty of chewing, thus improving the brain's control of jaw mo...