Exploring tongue muscle interaction using tagged Cine-MRI

By M. Stone and A. Lundberg

This presentation uses tagged Cine-MRI (tMRI) and ultrasound image sequences to examine internal and surface tongue motion. The results of three studies are used to explore two complementary hypotheses about how the tongue is organized. In the first, Takemoto (J. Speech Language Hearing Research, 2000) proposed structural units for the tongue. These units are composed of two laminae, one containing genioglossus/verticalis and the other containing transverse muscle. The units are repeated throughout the length of the tongue. The second hypothesis, (Stone, J. Acoust. Soc. Amer., 1990) proposed functional segments for the tongue. These semi-independent segments extend lengthwise along the tongue resulting in local regions whose surface shapes are uncorrelated.