Neuromuscular control of the human tongue

舌头是一个复杂的肌肉器官，对吞咽等口腔运动行为至关重要， 呼吸说话咀嚼志愿服务的惊人复杂性和精确性 舌头的运动取决于内在的协调（起源和插入 舌内）和外（附着于骨并插入舌根） 舌头肌肉直到最近，几乎所有关于舌肌功能的研究， 呼吸或吞咽都涉及到整个肌肉肌电图的研究 (EMG)活动最近，我们的特点与舌相关的肌肉和运动单位 活动在健康的人类受试者作为睡眠/觉醒和缓慢的意志运动的函数。的 这项工作的结果提供了对语言运动功能的重新认识，并提供了一个平台， 开始研究旨在确定舌头肌肉是如何控制在更复杂的意志 行为。目前的应用程序建立在PI以前的工作的主题上， 以前的研究纳入语音生产过程的关键要素。具体地说， 我们建议检查舌肌和运动单位的活动，以及这些活动的潜力， 通过呼吸、发声（喉）和/或喉上（口）中产生的输入来调节， 发音）子系统。了解肌肉和MU活动作为这些影响的函数 单独和连续重叠时，是理解语言如何 肌肉和运动单位的活动在人类更复杂的意志行为中受到调节 言语产生

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.