Structure of Tongue

The tongue is embryologically separated into an anterior and a posterior half. The oral or pre-sulcal section of the tongue is another name for its anterior region. The pharyngeal or postsulcal section of the tongue, on the other hand, is the term used to describe the back of the tongue. The lingual septum, a vertical stretch of fibrous tissue that results in a groove on the surface of the tongue called the median sulcus, divides the tongue’s left and right sides for the majority of its length. The following components make up the tongue:

Epithelium

The epithelium includes taste buds and papillae. The taste buds aid in flavor perception. They have a wide bottom and are lined with squamous epithelial tissue. The taste cells have a nucleus in the middle and are thin, rod-shaped cells. Short-taste hairs are present on the free surface. Taste is detected by taste cells and is properly perceived when it dissolves in saliva.

Muscles

There are two categories for the eight tongue muscles: intrinsic and extrinsic.

• Extrinsic Muscles: The four extrinsic muscles stretch to the tongue from their osseous origins. They are genioglossus, hyoglossus, styloglossus, and palatoglossus. Their primary purposes involve moving the tongue’s position to protrude, retract, and move from side to side.
• Intrinsic Muscles: Along the length of the tongue, four pairs of intrinsic muscles have their origins and inserts there. They are the transverse muscle, the vertical muscle, the inferior longitudinal muscle, and the superior longitudinal muscle. This gives shape and makes it easier to speak, swallow, and eat.

Nerve Supply

The chorda tympanic branch of the facial nerve and the glossopharyngeal nerve are both involved in taste perception. The trigeminal nerve carries pain, touch, and temperature perceptions.

Blood Supply

The lingual artery, a branch of the external carotid artery, supplies the tongue with the majority of its blood flow. Drainage from the lingual veins is sent to the internal jugular vein. The bottom of the mouth is also supplied with blood by the lingual artery. Additional blood is sent to the tongue’s root by the ascending pharyngeal artery and the tonsillar branch of the facial artery.

Tongue is a movable, flexible organ with muscles found on the floor of the mouth of most vertebrates. It is the major organ of taste and manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive process.  It is coated by mucosa, a wet, pink tissue. It takes part in licking, tasting, breathing, swallowing, and speaking. The rough texture of the tongue is due to the presence of papillae. It is covered by a variety of taste buds. The tongue has many nerves that aid in the transmission of taste information to the brain and hence aid in taste sensation. Old English ‘tunge’, which descended from Proto-Germanic ‘tungōn’, is where the word tongue first appeared.