A study published in the *Journal of Periodontology* suggests that periodontitis could be linked to impaired brain function, even in individuals with normal cognitive abilities. Wei Ye and colleagues investigated this by analyzing functional connectivity in 51 middle-aged and elderly participants with normal cognition. They found differences in intranetwork functional connectivity (aDMN, dSMN) and increased internetwork FC between auditory, salience, and ventral attention networks in those with periodontitis compared to controls.
The researchers also noted decreased FC between the posterior default-mode network and right frontoparietal network, as well as increased FC between dSMN and VAN in individuals with moderate-to-severe periodontitis. These findings highlight a potential association between periodontitis and brain damage, offering new insights into early Alzheimer’s prevention strategies.
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