Functionally, these neurons are either motor (conducting impulses that will cause activity such as the contraction of muscles) or association (conducting impulses and permitting 'communication' between neurons within the central nervous system).
The scant research that has been done on the causes of pica suggests that the disorder is a specific appetite caused by mineral deficiency in many cases, such as iron deficiency, which sometimes is a result of celiac disease or hookworm infection.
Ice chewing is called pagophagia, and itâs one specific type of a more general medical condition thatâs referred to as pica. People with pica have a compulsive desire to eat things that have no nutritional value, such as ice or cornstarch, or even things that arenât food at all, like clay, dirt, chalk, or paint chips.