Tongue (anatomy)

The human tongue is a muscular hydrostat, a mobile organ (contains salivary glands) located inside the mouth, odd, medium and symmetrical, which performs important functions such as mouth hydration and food through salivation, swallowing, language, and the sense of taste. Swallowing and speaking are practically impossible actions without saliva. The musculature has a hypobranchial origin like the epiglottis and is subsequent to the formation of the tongue sheath. The palatine tonsil has the same thymic origin as the rest of the elements of Waldeyer's ring.

External conformation

The tongue is cone-shaped, has a body, a lingual V-shape, a root, and a bone called the hyoid bone. The body or buccal portion comprises the two anterior thirds, the root or pharyngeal portion, the posterior third, both separated by the lingual V or isthmus of the fauces. The parts of the tongue are:

• Upper face: Also called the back of the tongue, presents the V lingual, open forward, formed by the circumvalent or caliciformed papylas.^{[chuckles]required]} The surface of the back of the tongue, in front of the V lingual, is related to the palate, is usually smooth and usually has some congenital and other acquired grooves that differentiate the languages of the individuals.
• Lower face: Rest on the floor of the mouth. In the middle line, you will find the branillo (also called lingual branillo or lingual fillet), semi-lunar form, very resistant, that limits the movements of the tongue. If it were not for this brawn, we could even die by swallowing the tongue; hence its great importance. On both sides of the lining of the tongue, in its previous part, there are two tubers, pierced in its center, which are the holes of the Wharton ducts or exit holes of the submandibular salivary glands. Later, there are the exit holes of the Bartolini ducts of the sublingual glands. Frog veins are visualized blue on the lower face of the tongue, on both sides of the mill.
• Linguistics: They are free, rounded and in relation to the dentary and important arches. They also have bacterial filters.
• Base of the tongue: It is thick and wide and is in relation to forward backwards with the milliohioid and genihioid muscles, with the hioid bone and with the epiglottis, to which it is joined by the three gleoepiglotic folds.
• lingual tip: Also known as apex or lingual vertex. It serves to taste food by chewing.

Constitution of the language

Extinct muscles of the tongue. The left side.

• Skeleton of the tongue: It is an osteofibrous frame formed by the hioid bone, the hiogloss membrane and the medium septum, which are two fibrous foils on which the muscles of the tongue are inserted.
• Language muscles: The lingual musculature allows the language to be very mobile. It consists of extrinsic muscles, originated outside the tongue, and intrinsic muscles, originated within it. All the muscle fibers of the tongue are skeletal. The muscles of the tongue are 17; one is only odd and a half, the upper lingual; all others are pairs and sideways, and are:

• Geniogloso: It is inserted into the geni apophysis of the jaw and is directed in the form of a fan to the tongue.
• Stylegloss: It is inserted into the styling apophysis of the temporal bone.
• Hyoglosus: It is inserted into the hioid bone.
• Palatoglosso: It is also called glosoestafiline muscle and constitutes the thickness of the previous pillar of the palate veil. It is able to raise the back portion of the tongue or depress the soft palate, more commonly acts as a constrictor of the isthmus of the jauces.
• Faringogloss: Turns the tongue down and back.
• Amigdalogloso: Elevator of the base of the tongue.
• Upper lingual muscle: It is an odd and medium muscle.
• Lower lingual circle: Which goes from the apex to the lingual mill.
• Transverse circle of the tongue: It is fixed on the face of the lingual partition, formed by transversal fascicles that end on the edges of the tongue. Its contraction rounds the tongue, approaching its edges, and projects it forward. It's an intrinsic muscle.

• Mucosa de la lengua: The mucosa that covers the back of the body is a specialized mucosa. The mucosa behind the V lingual is the lingual tonsils. The mucosa of the lingual back has six types of taste buds (such as they are seen in the tongue from top to bottom):

Pleasure, coronal cut.

• Caliciform or circumvalent
• Papilas foliadas
• Papilas filiformes
• Fungiform Papilas

• Likeatory corpuscles have four types of cells:

• Dark cells
• Clear cells
• Intermediate cells
• Brass cells

Language development and formation

Towards the end of the fourth week of embryonic gestation, a triangular elevation is observed on the floor of the pharynx, called the tubercle impar, and it is the first sign of tongue development. Two lateral buds soon develop, the tongue protuberances. These three swellings come from the mesenchyme of the first pharyngeal arch. These lingual protuberances rapidly increase in size until they fuse, leaving the median groove of the tongue between them, thus forming the lingual body.^{[citation needed]}

Irrigation and innervation of the tongue

The specialized lingual mucosa and the tongue in general is extensively supplied and innervated.

Motor innervation comes from the hypoglossal and vagus (with the pharyngeal plexus), while the sensory one is given by the glossopharyngeal, vagus and lingual nerves (branch of the inferior maxillary nerve, branch in turn of the trigeminal nerve, coming from the Gasserian ganglion).^{[citation needed]}

Taste sensation from the lingual body (or the anterior two thirds) is conducted by the chorda tympani nerve (branch of the facial nerve), and that of the root (or the posterior third) by the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves.^{[citation required]}

Supply comes from the lingual artery (a branch of the external carotid artery) and the lingual vein (which drains into the internal jugular vein via the tirolinguopharyngofacial trunk).