Nov 6, 2017
Your tongue is made up of eight muscles. This is why it is called a muscular organ. It is the most important articulator in speech production. (A brief word dissection: articulate means to communicate something clearly. In medicine, articulate means to make a connection. It all makes sense!)
The tip is called the apex. The crease down the middle is called the median lingual sulcus. There is another crease at the back of your tongue and it is called the sulcus terminalis.
The tongue has two types of muscles. Extrinsic muscles attach to bones boarding the mouth. Intrinsic muscles are completely contained inside the tongue borders.
These muscles are responsible for moving your tongue front to back and side to side. There are four of them and they are named for the facial bones that they are anchored to.
These muscles are responsible for all the shapes and movements your tongue makes when you talk and eat.
The surface of your tongue is known as the masticatory mucosa, which basically means it's the surface that food comes in contact with. The surface is made up of epithelial cells just like your skin. The cells are keratinized (or filled with a toughening protein) so it is tough and does not get damaged by the wide variety of things we eat.
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