Coordination of surface electromyography activity in the posterior tongue region during mastication of differently textured foods

Abstract

Background: Masticatory movement occurs complicatedly and bilaterally. Although the tongue plays an important role in mastication, bilateral tongue function during mastication has not been clarified yet. Objective: To investigate the effect of food properties on posterior tongue activity and coordination of muscles bilaterally by electromyography (EMG). Methods: Twenty healthy adults (10 males and 10 females; mean age 28 years; range: 22-33 years) participated in this study. Three test foods, gummy jelly (hard food), sponge cake (soft food requiring crushing), and mashed potatoes (soft food not requiring crushing), were used. Bilateral masseter N-EMG (surface electromyography for measuring the muscle activity of posterior tongue) and submental EMG were carried out while the participants chewed three test foods. The participants were instructed to masticate three test foods only on the right side and only on the left side unilaterally. Results: In the case of gummy jelly, N-EMG activity on the mastication side was significantly larger than that on the non-mastication side (P < .01). Regarding temporal relationship between the masseter and N-EMG activity, in the case of gummy jelly, the percentage of cases where the N-EMG peak was observed during masseter muscle EMG bursts was significantly higher than those for sponge cake and mashed potatoes (P < .01). Conclusion: N-EMG activity on the mastication side was significantly larger than that on the non-mastication side in the mastication of hard foods. Tongue showed activity pattern changes and coordinated with the masseter muscle depending on food texture.

Basic characteristics of tongue pressure and electromyography generated by articulation of a syllable using the posterior part of the tongue

“…We previously reported a signi cant positive correlation between tongue pressure and EMG generated by elevating the posterior tongue for isometric movements of the posterior part of the tongue [3]. We also reported that the EMG activity is generated by muscle groups associated with posterior tongue movement; namely, the styloglossus, stylohyoideus, and hyoglossus, based on the electrode attachment and anatomical muscle positions [25]. It has been reported that the styloglossus and hyoglossus muscles are involved in lowering and raising the lateral margins of the tongue [11].…”

Functional Role of Suprahyoid Muscles in Bolus Formation During Mastication

“…To our knowledge, ours is the first report to have demonstrated the difference in the contribution of the suprahyoid muscles to bolus formation between the masticatory and non-masticatory sides. Previous studies introduced a new method to record neck surface EMG activities, which represents the force of posterior tongue lifting ( Manda et al, 2016 ; Mori et al, 2021 ). The authors demonstrated that neck EMG activity was significantly higher on the masticatory side than on the non-masticatory side although there was no difference among the stages.…”

Análise do sistema estomatognático de crianças com e sem hipomineralização molar-incisivo

“…A eficiência mastigatória é estabelecida por comparações entre indivíduos em atividades dinâmicas, pela análise da integral da envoltória do sinal eletromiográfico dos ciclos mastigatórios, que é uma medida matemática linear simples, precisa e rápida, que estabelece a mensuração das amostras (Hermes et al, 1999;De Rossi et al, 2014). A eletromiografia de superfície proporciona o estudo do processo mastigatório, pelo cálculo matemático dos valores da integral da envoltória, os quais são analisados desprezando os três ciclos mastigatórios iniciais, tendo em vista que, no início do processo mastigatório, os primeiros ciclos apresentam considerável variação no padrão de movimentação mandibular (Palinkas et al, 2013;Mori et al, 2021).…”