Neuromuscular control of the human tongue

描述（由申请人提供）：舌头是一个复杂的肌肉器官，对吞咽、呼吸、说话和咀嚼等口腔运动行为至关重要。舌头自主运动的惊人复杂性和精确性取决于内在（舌头的起源和插入）和外在（附着在骨头上并插入舌根）舌肌的协调。直到最近，几乎所有关于舌肌功能的研究，无论是在言语、呼吸还是吞咽中，都涉及到对整个肌肉肌电图（EMG）活动的研究。最近，我们的特点是，在健康的人类受试者的睡眠/清醒和缓慢的意志运动的功能，舌肌和运动单位的活动。这项工作的结果提供了从头了解舌运动功能和一个平台，从开始研究，旨在确定如何舌头肌肉控制更复杂的意志行为。目前的应用程序建立在PI以前的工作的主题，但从以前的调查在纳入语音生产过程的关键要素。具体而言，我们建议检查舌肌和运动单位的活动和潜在的这些活动被调制的输入所产生的呼吸，发声（喉）和/或喉上（口腔发音）子系统。理解肌肉和MU活动作为这些影响的函数，并且当连续叠加时，是理解舌头肌肉和运动单元活动如何在更复杂的意志行为（即人类言语产生）中调制的合乎逻辑的第一步。 人类的舌头可能是所有运动系统中最复杂，最具挑战性和最不了解的系统之一。这个应用程序概述了一个计划，以确定中枢神经系统控制舌头运动的讲话的基本过程。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The tongue is a complex muscular organ that is critical for oro-motor behaviors such as swallowing, breathing, speaking and chewing. The astonishing complexity and precision of the voluntary movements performed by the tongue depend upon the coordination of intrinsic (origin and insertion within the body of the tongue) and extrinsic (attached to bone and inserted into the base of tongue) tongue muscles. Until recently, almost all studies of lingual muscle function whether in speech, respiration or deglutition have concerned themselves with the study of whole muscle electromyographic (EMG) activities. Recently, we characterized respiratory-related tongue muscle and motor unit activities in healthy human subjects as a function of sleep/wake and in slow volitional movements. The results of this work provided de novo insights into lingual motor function and a platform from which to begin studies aimed at identifying how tongue muscles are controlled in more complex volitional behaviors. The current application builds thematically on previous work by the PI and yet departs from previous investigations in incorporating critical elements of the speech production process. Specifically, we propose to examine tongue muscle and motor unit activities and the potential for these activities to be modulated by inputs arising in the respiratory, phonatory (laryngeal) and/or supralaryngeal (oral- articulatory) subsystems. Understanding muscle and MU activities as a function of these influences separately and when successively overlaid is a logical first-step toward understanding how tongue muscle and motor unit activities are modulated in the more complex volitional behavior that is human speech production. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The human tongue is perhaps one of the most complex, challenging, and least understood of all motor systems. This application outlines a plan to identify the fundamental processes by which the central nervous system controls tongue movement for speech.