Document Type
Article
Date
11-2003
Keywords
tongue, regional anatomy, eating, speech, deglutition
Language
English
Disciplines
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering | Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Description/Abstract
The position of the tongue relative to the upper and lower jaws is regulated in part by the position of the hyoid bone, which, with the anterior and posterior suprahyoid muscles, controls the angulation and length of the floor of the mouth on which the tongue body 'rides'. The instantaneous shape of the tongue is controlled by the 'extrinsic muscles ' acting in concert with the 'intrinsic ' muscles. Recent anatomical research in non-human mammals has shown that the intrinsic muscles can best be regarded as a 'laminated segmental system ' with tightly packed layers of the 'transverse', 'longitudinal', and 'vertical' muscle fibers. Each segment receives separate innervation from branches of the hypoglosssal nerve. These new anatomical findings are contributing to the development of functional models of the tongue, many based on increasingly refined finite element modeling techniques. They also begin to explain the observed behavior of the jaw-hyoid-tongue complex, or the hyomandibular 'kinetic chain', in feeding and consecutive speech. Similarly, major efforts, involving many imaging techniques (cinefluorography, ultrasound, electro-palatography, NMRI, and others), have examined the spatial and temporal relationships of the tongue surface in sound production. The feeding literature shows localized tongue-surface change as the process progresses. The speech literature shows extensive change in tongue shape between classes of vowels and consonants. Although there is a fundamental dichotomy between the referential framework and the methodological approach to studies of the orofacial complex in feeding and speech, it is clear that many of the shapes adopted by the tongue in speaking are seen in feeding. It is suggested that the range of shapes used in feeding is the matrix for both behaviors.
Recommended Citation
Karen M. Hiiemae and Jeffrey B. Palmer. Tongue Movements in Feeding and Speech. Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine November 2003 14: 413-429, doi:10.1177/154411130301400604
Included in
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons, Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons
Additional Information
The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine, Vol 14/Issue 6, Nov, 2003 by SAGE Publications Ltd.
This article can be found at http://cro.sagepub.com/content/14/6/413.long