General sensory innervation of the human tongue

Abstract

Specimens (obtained during oral and pharyngeal operations) from various regions of 33 normal human tongues were studied by silver staining and cholinesterase technics. The tongue was found to be innervated by three types of endings: nonmyelinated free endings, semiorganized coiled endings, and organized endings. All organized endings are mucocutaneous end organs in various sizes and shapes and are nonspecific‐cholinesterase positive.Correlation of new information with pertinent clinical and pathologic observations indicates that biopsy by refined histochemical methods might be useful in diagnosis in cases of tongue neuropathy such as glossodynia and glossopyrosis.