07/05/2026
**The tongue** is a muscular organ in your mouth that pulls triple duty: taste, speech, and moving food around for chewing and swallowing.
# # # **Structure**
- **Muscles**: 8 total. 4 intrinsic muscles reshape the tongue for precise movements like rolling an “r”. 4 extrinsic muscles anchor it and move it as a whole: genioglossus pushes it forward, hyoglossus pulls it down, styloglossus pulls it up/back, palatoglossus elevates the back.
- **Surface**: The top is the dorsum. It’s covered in papillae, those little bumps you can see in a mirror.
- **Regions**: Anterior 2/3 is the oral part you see. Posterior 1/3 is the pharyngeal part near your throat. They’re split by a V-shaped line called the sulcus terminalis.
# # # **Papillae + taste**
Taste buds handle sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. The old “taste map” is a myth — all areas detect all tastes, just with slight differences.
# # # **Nerves and blood**
1. **Motor**: Hypoglossal nerve CN XII runs almost everything. Palatoglossus is the exception, handled by vagus CN X.
2. **Sensory**:
- Front 2/3: Lingual nerve for touch/temp, chorda tympani from facial CN VII for taste.
- Back 1/3: Glossopharyngeal CN IX for both.
3. **Blood**: Lingual artery from external carotid brings blood in. Lingual vein to internal jugular drains it.
# # # **Common clinical notes**
- **Tongue-tie** (ankyloglossia): Short frenulum under the tongue can affect speech or infant feeding.
- **Glossitis**: Smooth, red, swollen tongue often means B12, folate, or iron deficiency.
- **Geographic tongue**: Harmless red patches that shift around like a map.
- **Oral cancer**: The sides and undersurface are high-risk spots. Any ulcer that won’t heal needs a check.