Regional Tongue Deformations During Chewing and Drinking in the Pig

As a muscular hydrostat, the tongue undergoes complex deformations during most oral behaviors, including chewing and drinking. During thesebehaviors, deformations occur in concert with tongue and jaw movements to position and transport the bolus. Moreover, the various parts of the tongue may move and deform at similar timepoints relative to the gape cycle or they may occur at different timepoints, indicating regional biomechanical and functional variation. The goal of this study is to quantify tongue deformations during chewing and drinking in pigs by characterizing intrinsic changes in tongue dimensions (i.e., length and width) across multiple regions simultaneously. Tongue deformations are generally larger during chewing cycles compared to drinking cycles. Chewing and drinking also differ in the timing, relative to the gape cycle, of regional length and width, but not total length, deformations. This demonstrates functional differences in the temporal dynamics of localized shape changes, whereas the global properties of jaw-tongue coordination are maintained. Finally, differences in the trade-off between length and width deformations demonstrate that the properties of a muscular hydrostat are observed at the whole tongue level, but biomechanical variation (e.g., changes in movements and deformations) at the regional level exists. This study provides new critical insights into the regional contributions to tongue deformations as a basis for future work on multidimensional shape changes in soft tissues.

Automated summary

The tongue undergoes complex deformations during chewing and drinking, with different regions showing biomechanical and functional variations. Tongue deformations are larger during chewing compared to drinking, and the timing of regional length and width deformations differ between the two behaviors. This study provides critical insights into regional contributions to tongue deformations and sets the basis for future research on multidimensional shape changes in soft tissues.