Library · Anatomy
Tongue
Make it clearer
The tongue is an organ made of muscle. It is involved mainly in digestion, taste perception and speech. Its surface has papillae, small bumps, and inside them are the taste buds, the structures involved in taste.
Inside, it has two groups of muscles. The intrinsic muscles do not attach to any bone and generally change the shape of the tongue. The extrinsic muscles do attach to bone and move the tongue in different directions. Think of your hand: it can close or open without moving from its spot, and your arm can also carry it from one place to another. Something similar happens with the tongue: in general, some muscles change its shape and others change its position.
Speech is produced partly by moving the tongue against the teeth and the palate, the roof of the mouth. And when we eat, the tongue, with help from the buccinator, the cheek muscle, moves food around the mouth and mixes it with saliva.
In brief
The tongue is a muscular organ involved mainly in digestion, taste perception and speech; its papillae contain the taste buds.
Its intrinsic muscles do not attach to bone and generally change the tongue's shape; the extrinsic muscles do attach to bone and move the tongue in different directions.
Speech is produced partly by moving the tongue against the teeth and palate, and when we eat, the tongue, with help from the buccinator, moves food around and mixes it with saliva.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Head and Neck, Tongue, StatPearls
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated