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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

In Vivo Evaluation of the Mechanical and Viscoelastic Properties of the Rat Tongue
Published on: July 6, 2017
Physiologic development of tongue-jaw coordination from childhood to adulthood
Hei Yan Cheng1, Bruce E Murdoch, Justine V Goozée
1The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia. y.cheng@shrs.uq.edu.au
Purpose:
This investigation aimed to examine the development of tongue-jaw coordination during speech from childhood to adolescence.
Method:
Electromagnetic articulography was used to track tongue and jaw motion in 48 children and adults (aged 6-38 years) during productions of /t/ and /k/ embedded in sentences.
Results:
The coordinative organization of the tongue and jaw exhibited changes until the age of 8-11 years and continued to undergo refinement into late adolescence. The tongue-tip and tongue-body were observed to develop unique kinematic relations with the jaw. While tongue-tip movement became increasingly synchronized with jaw movement, tongue-body and jaw retained movement independence but developed a more consistent kinematic relation.
Conclusion:
The present results support the notion that speech motor development is nonuniform, with a refinement period from mid-childhood to late adolescence.
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