During swallowing, the aryepiglottis muscle draws the epiglottis downward to close the larynx, preventing food and drink from being inhaled. It originates from the arytenoid cartilage and inserts in the epiglottic cartilage near the thyroepiglotic ligament. It is innervated by the laryngeal branch of the vagus nerve.
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The corniculate cartilages rest on the tops of each of the arytenoid cartilages. During swallowing, the epiglottis bends down to meet the corniculate cartilages, sealing off the airway to prevent food or saliva from entering the airway.
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The epiglottis is a fibro-cartilaginous lid shaped like a leaf which covers the upper opening of the larynx. It is covered by a mucous membrane and contains taste and mucous glands.
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The larynx is the organ (voice-box) at the entrance to the trachea (windpipe) in the front of the neck. It is the organ by which the voice is produced. The larynx is enclosed by cartilages. Below it is supported by a firm ring, the cricoid cartilage, which is the entrance to the trachea proper. The much larger thyroid cartilage is perched on top of the cricoid. It is shaped like a snow-plough, with its two halves widely separated behind and meeting in front to form the Adam's apple.
The mucous membrane which lines the larynx is thrown into various folds. These folds are called the true vocal cords, and by their movements the voice is produced. They are called true, as distinct from the false vocal cords which are above them, but take no part in producing the voice.
The true vocal cords projecting towards the middle form a chink, which is called the glottis. By the contraction of various muscles this chink can be so brought together that the air forced through it throws the edges of the membrane into vibration and so produce sounds. Variations in the form of the chink will affect changes in the sound. Thus the production of voice is the same as in musical
instruments, the arrangements in the larynx being such as to produce (1) the vibratory sounds, (2) to regulate the sound, (3) to vary the pitch, and (4) to determine the quality of the sound. The rapid, delicate, muscular movements involved are produced by nervous stimuli reaching the muscles from the brain. Thus the voice is produced in the larynx, and is modified by the rest of the respiratory passages. In the act of swallowing, the glottis is covered by a cartilaginous plate called the epiglottis.
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The lateral glossoepiglottic fold is situated at the root of the tongue. It is a groove formed by the mucouse membrane covering the epiglottis cartilage and the thyroid cartilage in the larynx.
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The anterior and lingual surface of the epiglottis is curved forward, toward the tongue. The surface is covered at its upper, free part by mucous membrane which is reflected onto the sides and root of the tongue, forming a median and two lateral folds. The lateral folds are partially attached to the wall of the pharynx.
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The mouth is a versatile area of the human anatomy, responsible for articulation in speech, and tasting, chewing, and swallowing food. The mouth cavity is located just below the nasal cavity and is formed by the palatine bones and the palatine processes of the maxilla on top and by the mandible on bottom. At the opening of the mouth cavity are the lips - muscular structures which are covered with thin, membranous skin. The lips occlude the mouth opening during chewing to keep food and liquid within, help manipulate food during chewing, facilitate articulation in speech, and even give a friendly kiss.
Within the mouth cavity, the teeth extend down from their maxillary sockets and up from their mandibular sockets to form the dental arcade. The muscles and skin of the cheeks cover the outer sides of the mouth cavity, while the muscular structures of the tongue and sublingual mucosal lining and muscles. When food is brought into the mouth the salivary glands produce saliva. The saliva lubricates the mouth and moistens the food.
The inner surface of the lips, the tongue, and the cheeks manipulate the food so that it is brought between the teeth as the teeth clamp down on the food. In a combined action of these motions, with a semi-circular, grinding motion of the teeth, the food is chewed into a paste with the saliva. Enzymes within the saliva begin to break down the food and the tongue moves a portion of this food paste to the back of the mouth cavity by pressing it up and back along the hard palate. The soft palate, meanwhile, raises to seal off the nasal cavity. The ball of food paste, called a bolus, is passed into the pharynx. The epiglottis lowers to cover the airway so that the food does not enter the larynx. From the pharynx, wave- like contractions, called peristaltic waves, push the bolus down into and through the esophagus and into the stomach, where it is further digested.
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Taste buds are microscopic onion-shaped clusters of cells buried in the epidermal cell layer of the papilla, but do not protrude above the surface. The taste buds contain receptor cells that signal information about taste characteristics to the central nervous system. Each taste bud consists of about thirty to eighty nonnervous cells, many of which are connected to nerve endings. These cells sense the contents of the mouth via small, narrow gustatory pores. Taste buds are composed of three different types of cells. The type one cell, also called the dark cell, constitutes 60 to 80% of the cell total. It is believed by many researchers that these are not sensory cells, but act as a supporting system for the other cells. The type two cells (light cells), which constitute 15 to 30% of the cell total, and the type three cells, which constitute 7 to 14%, are considered the true taste receptors.
Taste buds are not confined to the tongue. A thin scattering of taste buds can be found in many parts of the mouth's mucous membrane, including the epiglottis, pharynx, larynx, soft palate, and uvula. There are also taste buds on the upper third of the esophagus. Altogether, the average adult has about 10,000 taste buds.
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In the human body, the throat is the part of the body extending from the base of the tongue to the trachea (windpipe). The throat contains the organs for the production of sound and affords passage to the stomach and to the lungs.
The beginning of the throat is presented on looking into the mouth. In the middle line above, is the uvula hanging from the soft palate. On either side the soft palate becomes continuous with the two pillars of the fauces, and below, these again are continuous with the root or base of the tongue. Between the pillars of the fauces on either side are the tonsils, which if enlarged can narrow the enterance to the throat to a dangerous extent. Above and behind the soft palate is the nasopharynx into which the posterior ends of the nostrils open.
Projecting upwards in the middle line at the base of the tongue is the epiglottis. From each side of this two folds project backwards and touch one another behind, leaving a triangular interval, which is the enterance to the larynx. Behind the place where these bands join is a narrow gap forming the enterance to the oesophagus.
The vestibule of the larynx contains two fleshy-looking bands, called the false cords, which are highly developed in the lower animals. Deeper in the larynx are two thinner, pearly-white bands which are the true vocal cords, the essential organs of sound. Theye are enclosed in a more or less rigid box of cartilage, the front of which can be seen in the middle line of the neck in a man and is popularly known as the 'Adam's Apple'.
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The tongue is the organ found in the mouth of most vertebrate animals, which exercises the sense of taste, and also assists in speech and in taking food. In humans the tongue is usually flat and moderately extensible. It consists of a network of bundles of striated muscle fibres, fibrous tissue, fat and lymphoid masses, mucous-producing glands, and a covering of mucous membrane. It is an extremely mobile muscle that enables one to taste food, move it around as it is chewed, push it back into the pharynx when swallowing, and is an invaluable aid in speech. It is derived mostly from an outgrowth (tuberculum) in the floor of the pharynx and is connected with the hyoid bone, the epiglottis and the pillars of the soft palate. The tuberculum grows forward and is joined by other tissues from the region, forming this complex muscular organ of many uses.
Numerous follicles and mucous or lingual glands exist on the tongue, the functions of these latter being the secretion of mucus. The nervous supply is distributed in the form of three main nerves to each half of the organ. The gustatory nerves and the glossopharyngeal branches are the nerves providing the tongue with common sensation, and also with the sense of taste; while the hypoglossal nerve invests the muscles of the tongue with the necessary stimulus. The conditions necessary for the exercise of the sense of taste are, firstly, the solution of the matters to be tasted; secondly, the presence of a special gustatory nerve; and thirdly, that the surf ace of the tongue itself be moist. The top and edges of the tongue are more sensitive to taste than the middle portion. The sense of touch is very acute in the tongue.
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