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Related Concept Videos

The Tongue and Taste Buds00:49

The Tongue and Taste Buds

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The surface of the tongue is covered with various small bumps called papillae, which either distribute what has been ingested (filiform papillae) or contain the sensory taste (or gustatory) receptor cells (fungiform, circumvallate, and foliate papillae). Embedded within each taste-related papilla are the taste buds—clusters of 30 to 100 gustatory receptor cells.
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Tongue01:01

Tongue

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The human tongue is a fascinating and complex organ, responsible for various essential functions such as swallowing, speech, and taste. It is also subject to various conditions and diseases. In this article, we delve into the anatomy of the tongue, its roles, and some common conditions that can affect it.
Anatomical Position in the Oral Cavity
The tongue is located within the oral cavity, also known as the mouth. It is attached to the floor of the mouth by a fold of mucous membrane called the...
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Cranial Nerves: Types Part II01:22

Cranial Nerves: Types Part II

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Cranial nerves are responsible for transmitting motor and sensory information between the brain and various parts of the body. There are twelve pairs of cranial nerves. While the first six innervate the head and neck, the latter six nerves innervate the head and neck, as well as organs and tissues in the thoracic and abdominal cavities. They facilitate communication, expression, and autonomic control within the human body.
Facial Nerve (Cranial Nerve VII)
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Taste Buds and Receptors01:20

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Gustation, or the sense of taste, is intrinsically linked to the anatomical structures located on the tongue. This organ's surface, along with the entirety of the oral cavity, is adorned with stratified squamous epithelium. Evident on the tongue are elevated structures known as papillae (singular = papilla), which house the mechanisms for the transduction of gustatory stimuli. Four distinct types of papillae exist, each identified by their unique morphological attributes: the circumvallate,...
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Deglutition01:25

Deglutition

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Swallowing, otherwise known as deglutition, facilitates the transport of food from the mouth to the stomach. It is a multifaceted process that involves both the tongue and the muscles of the throat and esophagus. Saliva and mucus aid in this process, which takes approximately 4 to 8 seconds for semi-solid or solid food and around 1 second for liquids or very soft food.
Swallowing can be divided into three stages: the voluntary phase, the pharyngeal phase, and the esophageal phase. Although the...
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Tactile and Chemical Senses01:27

Tactile and Chemical Senses

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Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.
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Related Experiment Video

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Assessment of Spatial Lingual Tactile Sensitivity using a Gratings Orientation Test
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Flexible sensitivity to inputs during skilled tongue movements.

Rajan Dasgupta, Mingyuan Dong, Daniel H O'Connor

    Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
    |June 6, 2025
    PubMed
    Summary

    Researchers found a neural mechanism for flexible motor control, allowing mice to switch actions based on sensory input and context. This study sheds light on how the brain integrates sensations for adaptable goal-directed movements.

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    Area of Science:

    • Neuroscience
    • Motor Control
    • Sensory Integration

    Background:

    • Complex goal-directed movements require rapid motor program switching based on sensory input and action context.
    • The neural mechanisms underlying this flexible motor control remain largely unknown.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate a network mechanism for adjusting motor execution sensitivity to external inputs within varying sensorimotor contexts.
    • To provide causal evidence for integrating external inputs with internal context for flexible motor control.

    Main Methods:

    • Mice were trained on a licking task involving sequences directed at a moving target.
    • Optogenetic stimulation targeted somatosensory cortical inputs to the tongue premotor cortex (ALM) during specific motor switching points.
    • Sessions were divided into blocks where sensory-driven backtracking was either required or not required.

    Main Results:

    • Optogenetic stimulation reliably induced backtracking-like licking movements, particularly during blocks requiring sensory-driven backtracking.
    • Optically evoked neural activity deviations were larger during these conditions.
    • Population neural activity separated along a latent axis that correlated with stimulation impact and influenced motor switching speed.

    Conclusions:

    • A neural network mechanism enables flexible adjustment of motor execution sensitivity to external inputs based on context.
    • External sensory inputs are integrated with internal context signals to achieve adaptable, goal-directed motor control.
    • This provides causal evidence for context-dependent sensory integration in motor flexibility.