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Tesi etd-12122019-164701


Tipo di tesi
Tesi di dottorato di ricerca
Autore
TRAMONTI FANTOZZI, MARIA PAOLA
URN
etd-12122019-164701
Titolo
Waking up to trigeminal asymmetries: from trigeminal input, Locus Coeruleus and sleep quality to brain health
Settore scientifico disciplinare
BIO/09
Corso di studi
SCIENZE CLINICHE E TRASLAZIONALI
Relatori
tutor Prof. Faraguna, Ugo
correlatore Prof. Manzoni, Diego
Parole chiave
  • cognitive performance
  • HRV
  • locus coeruleus
  • pupil size
  • sleep
Data inizio appello
16/12/2019
Consultabilità
Non consultabile
Data di rilascio
16/12/2022
Riassunto
As a consequence of the worldwide aging populations, the amount of people with dementia is rapidly increasing. Besides aging, other risk factors, potentially modifiable, have been identified for cognitive impairment, including masticatory dysfunction and sleep disturbances. In order to find out preventive measures useful for delaying the onset - and possibly reverting – the cognitive impairment, two main different studies were conducted.
Regarding the masticatory dysfunction, recent evidence shows how unilateral molar loss condition, characterized by an unbalanced trigeminal input from the oral cavity to the brain, results in an asymmetric right-left activation of the Locus Coeruleus (LC), the main noradrenergic nucleus present in the brainstem, which may lead to cognitive impairment. Conversely, the rebalancing of the trigeminal afferents with appropriate oral implant-prosthesis decreases the asymmetry in LC activity and improves cognitive functions. In the attempt to shade light and further understand the link between trigeminal afferents and higher brain functions, the present studies investigated how trigeminal information may affect the neuromodulatory brain system and its related structures and the cerebral activity.
Moreover, regarding the sleep disturbances, studies were conducted to understand the possibility to predict sleep parameters on the basis of the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) metrics characteristic of the pre-sleep onset period.
Findings suggest the possibility a) to revert the cognitive impairment after masticatory unbalance correction and b) to predict the sleep parameters from HRV metrics.
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