Tongue

The tongue ( Old High German Zunga, Latin lingua, Greek γλῶσσα glossa ) is an elongated mucosal plated body muscle in humans and most other vertebrates, lying on the floor of the mouth and these are almost completely fills with closed jaws.

It participates in the chewing, sucking and swallowing and is equipped with sensory organs for taste and touch. The human tongue is also an important part of language education.

Construction

The top of the tongue ( the dorsum of the tongue, dorsum linguae ) is slightly arched, is completely free and the rear shows a triangular depression, the blind hole into the open several mucous glands.

The lower surface has grown with its central part to the floor of the mouth and so attached in front by a fold of mucous membrane, the frenulum ( frenulum linguae ) that only the top and side edges are free. The frenulum extends too far forward, so by the free mobility of the tongue is affected ( Ankyloglosson ). This can affect sucking and phonation. This developmental disorder can be removed through an incision in the frenulum ( tongue solution).

The rearmost, thickest part of the tongue, the tongue root ( radix linguae ) is attached to the hyoid bone, which is located in the upper part of the neck and back is connected by muscles and ligaments of the larynx.

In the center line of the tongue is a type vertical septum, the septum lingual. However, in addition, the tongue consists mainly of numerous muscle fibers extending therebetween nerves and blood vessels. The muscle fibers are arranged in all three spatial directions, thereby enabling the extremely high mobility of the tongue.

Innervation

The tongue is innervated in a very complex way by several nerves:

• Motorised the tongue is supplied by the hypoglossal nerve
• The sensitive and sensory innervation occurs in the posterior third of the tongue by the glossopharyngeal nerve
• The sensory innervation of the anterior two-thirds done by the lingual nerve
• The taste stimuli to the anterior two thirds of the tongue are routed through the chorda tympani, a branch of the facial nerve.

Mucous membrane

On the very thick tongue mucosa, which is a continuation of the oral mucosa, are the numerous papillae ( Zungenwärzchen, lingual papillae ) that are filiform, club-shaped or flat. Functionally, they can be divided into two groups.

The mechanical papillae ( papillae mechanicae ), after the figure in filiform papillae ( filiform ), papillae conicae ( conical ) and papillae lentiformes ( lenticular ) distinguished. The filiform papillae give the tongue its velvety surface. In some mammals ( cattle, sheep, cats) they have little towards the pharynx directed horn tips, and give your tongue a certain roughness. Conical papillae are much thicker and occur, for example in cattle on the tongue. Lenticular papillae are flat and wide and found in ruminants. They serve primarily the inclusion of tactile sensations.

The second group are the taste buds ( papillae gustatoriae ) with the actual taste organs, the taste buds with the taste nerves (glossopharyngeal, chorda tympani ) are connected. According to the form, there are three Geschmackspapillentypen. The fungiform papillae ( fungiform papillae ) are thought to be involved in addition to the recording of taste stimuli also to touch and temperature sensation. Located at the base of the tongue papillae ( vallate papillae ) are raised and surrounded by a moat with Spüldrüsen. Their number is tierartlich very different: horses have only two papillae, ruminants ( foliate papillae ) 48 Blätterpapillen are not trained in all mammals. Particularly clear they are in horses. Here both sides a, about 2 cm long Blätterpapille the side of the tongue base. It consists of many behind the other leaflets.

The tongue includes numerous small salivary glands, especially in the region of the root of the tongue. The entire surface of the tongue is covered by a soft cuticle or epithelium. In the numerous depressions between the papillae, a biofilm which nurtured by saliva and food particles, forming a whitish coating on the top of the tongue and can be reduced temporarily for example by a tongue cleaner developed.

Previously it was thought that the tongue taste areas can be divided. However, this is wrong. We now know that this Zoning is based on a misinterpretation of a figure brought out by David Hänig in 1901 publication. The basic taste qualities can be detected with all the sensory areas of the tongue.

The object of the tongue

The tongue is used for movement of food in the mouth, so that it can be thoroughly chewed and durchspeichelt. But she pushes on chewing in cooperation with the cheeks the food again and again between the teeth. Finally, she takes over during swallowing itself an important role in pushing the food from the mouth into the throat. At pasty consistency which is achieved in that first the blade edges and the central tongue section are pressed from the front to the rear of the palate.

In addition, the tongue when speaking is essential. Many sounds can not be produced without tongue.

The tongue is also the organ that allows the taste. There are the qualities of taste sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (旨 味, from Japanese旨いumai: meaty and savory, savory ) distinguished. The associated sensory cells are mainly marginal, sweet at the top, then salty, sour, salty. Only bitter taste has an accumulation of the tongue background. There is also a receptor according to more recent knowledge, responsive to fat.

Tongue of the animals

In vertebrates the tongue is generally available. In fishes, it is only in the often occupied with teeth coating of the hyoid bone; in amphibians is often thick, front fastened, on the other hand with its rear part bilobed mobile and vorstreckbar; in reptiles it is often narrow, horny and vorschnellbar from a special sheath, but also broad and firm; it behaves similarly in birds as it comes close to the mammals most of the people.

In dogs found in the tongue floor a strand of connective tissue in the longitudinal direction, which is referred to as the " Great Worm" ( Lyssa ). This was brought by mistake in earlier times with the rabies disease associated.

Jargon

In the hunter language Tasty called the tongue of the shell game. In fish, formerly a cartilaginous structure between the palate and the first spine vertebrae was called tongue.

Others

On 19 July 2003, a human tongue was of a team of doctors of the Vienna General Hospital transplanted the world for the first time.

After the tongue was formerly regarded as the main organ of speech, were punished in antiquity and the Middle Ages contradiction, defamation, lese majesty, treason, perjury, blasphemy and other acts that were committed by speaking, by mutilation, cutting or tearing out the tongue. Milder forms were piercing or scorching of the tongue. Inflammation of the tongue are called glossitis.

Sublingual rollers is the ability of most of the human population understood to roll the tube-like tongue of high curvature of the lateral edges.

Modifications

The mid-1990s, the tongue piercing established in youth and pop culture, the tongue is pierced to permanently wear jewelry in it. Another variant represents the frenulum piercing The temporary piercing the tongue was already common before in religious rituals in Thailand as part of the vegetarian festival or the festival of Thaipusam.

As a rarer form of body modification, the columns of the tongue being cut as part of a medical procedure, the front part of the tongue from the tip in the direction of tongue root so was that two tongue tips like a snake tongue soon.