The vertical tongue muscle consists of fibres running vertically between the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the tongue, found primarily in the anterior and lateral tongue. Its contraction flattens the tongue dorsoventrally, making it wider and shorter, facilitating functions such as food manipulation during chewing and the broad, flat tongue positions required for certain vowels and consonants in speech.
| Origin | Superior surface of the tongue (dorsal mucosa and submucous fibrous tissue) |
|---|---|
| Insertion | Inferior surface of the tongue (ventral mucosa) |
| Nerve Supply | Hypoglossal nerve (CN XII) |
| Blood Supply | Lingual artery (deep lingual branches) |
| Actions |
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|---|
It flattens and broadens the tongue, helping shape it for speech and for manipulating food.
The vertical tongue muscle completes the four-muscle intrinsic group (with superior longitudinal, inferior longitudinal, and transverse). Together these muscles enable the tongue to adopt virtually any three-dimensional configuration. Their coordinated activity with the extrinsic tongue muscles is controlled by the hypoglossal nucleus in the brainstem and the motor cortex. In glossectomy and tongue base resection for oral cancer, reconstruction aims to replace lost intrinsic muscle bulk with soft free flap tissue, restoring tongue volume and mobility.
Not directly palpable; assessed functionally by observing tongue flattening and broadening during lateral spread movements.
Resection of tongue including the vertical and other intrinsic muscles for cancer produces volume and mobility deficits affecting speech and swallowing, rehabilitated with radial forearm or anterolateral thigh free flap reconstruction and intensive speech-language therapy.
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