Evaluation of Multimodal Tongue Drive System by People with Tetraplegia for Computer Access

The multimodal Tongue Drive System (mTDS) is an assistive technology for people with tetraplegia that provides an alternative method to interact with a computer by combining tongue control, head gesture, and speech. This multimodality is designed to facilitate the completion of complex computer tasks (e.g. drag-and-drop) that cannot be easily performed by existing uni-modal assistive technologies. Previous studies with able-bodied participants showed promising performance of the mTDS on complex tasks when compared to other input methods such as keyboard and mouse. In this three-session pilot study, the primary objective is to show the feasibility of using mTDS to facilitate human-computer interactions by asking fourteen participants with tetraplegia to complete five computer access tasks with increased level of complexity: maze navigation, center-out tapping, playing bubble shooter and peg solitaire, and sending an email. Speed and accuracy are quantified by key metrics that are found to be generally increasing from the first to third session, indicating the potential existence of a learning phase that could result in improved performance over time.

Evaluation of Multimodal Tongue Drive System by People with Tetraplegia for Computer Access

The multimodal Tongue Drive System (mTDS) is an assistive technology for people with tetraplegia that provides an alternative method to interact with a computer by combining tongue control, head gesture, and speech. This multimodality is designed to facilitate the completion of complex computer tasks (e.g. drag-and-drop) that cannot be easily performed by existing uni-modal assistive technologies. Previous studies with able-bodied participants showed promising performance of the mTDS on complex tasks when compared to other input methods such as keyboard and mouse. In this three-session pilot study, the primary objective is to show the feasibility of using mTDS to facilitate human-computer interactions by asking fourteen participants with tetraplegia to complete five computer access tasks with increased level of complexity: maze navigation, center-out tapping, playing bubble shooter and peg solitaire, and sending an email. Speed and accuracy are quantified by key metrics that are found to be generally increasing from the first to third session, indicating the potential existence of a learning phase that could result in improved performance over time.

How a mouse licks a spout: Cortex-dependent corrections as the tongue reaches for, and misses, targets

Precise tongue control is necessary for drinking, eating, and vocalizing1, 2. Yet because tongue movements are fast and difficult to resolve, neural control of lingual kinematics remains poorly understood. Here we combine kilohertz frame-rate imaging and a deep learning based neural network to resolve 3D tongue kinematics in mice drinking from a water spout. Successful licks required previously unobserved corrective submovements (CSMs) which, like online corrections during primate reaches3–10, occurred after the tongue missed unseen, distant, or displaced targets. Photoinhibition of anterolateral motor cortex (ALM) impaired online corrections, resulting in hypometric licks that missed the spout. ALM neural activity reflected upcoming, ongoing, and past CSMs, as well as errors in predicted spout contact. Though less than a tenth of a second in duration, a single mouse lick exhibits hallmarks of online motor control associated with a primate reach, including cortex-dependent corrections after misses.

Do innate stereotypies serve as a basis for swallowing and learned speech movements?

Keven & Akins suggest that innate stereotypies like TP/R may participate in the acquisition of tongue control. This commentary examines this claim in the context of speech motor learning and biomechanics, proposing that stereotypies could provide a basis for both swallowing and speech movements, and provides biomechanical simulation results to supplement neurological evidence for similarities between the two behaviors.

The chemopreventive role of aged garlic extract against chemically induced tongue carcinogenesis

Tongue tumors were induced in rats using Diethylnitrosamine (DEN). Aged Garlic extract (AGE) exhibits anticarcinogenic effects. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect (AGE) against DEN induced tongue cancer in rats. Twenty-four Wister rats were divided into 4 groups. In lateral surface of the tongue; Control Groups I and II, received normal saline, while Groups III and IV were injected with 60 mg/kg DENA in a dose of 0.25ml (15mg/rat of 200g). Groups II and IV received pre-treatment with aged garlic extract 250 mg/kg orally daily for 2 weeks. Specimens for clinical and histopathological examinations were retrieved after 3 and 6 weeks. Although clinical and dysplastic histopathological changes were observed in Group 3 and 4, yet, less aggressive features of malignancy were associated with AGE. Better designed study with different doses “DEN and larger samples of animals, are needed to expand the understanding of the chemopreventive effect of AGE as dietary factor to cancer.

Neonatal imitation in context: Sensorimotor development in the perinatal period

More than 35 years ago, Meltzoff and Moore (1977) published their famous article, “Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates.” Their central conclusion, that neonates can imitate, was and continues to be controversial. Here, we focus on an often-neglected aspect of this debate, namely, neonatal spontaneous behaviors themselves. We present a case study of a paradigmatic orofacial “gesture,” namely tongue protrusion and retraction (TP/R). Against the background of new research on mammalian aerodigestive development, we ask: How does the human aerodigestive system develop, and what role does TP/R play in the neonate's emerging system of aerodigestion? We show that mammalian aerodigestion develops in two phases: (1) from the onset of isolated orofacial movementsin uteroto the postnatal mastery of suckling at 4 months after birth; and (2) thereafter, from preparation to the mastery of mastication and deglutition of solid foods. Like other orofacial stereotypies, TP/R emerges in the first phase and vanishes prior to the second. Based upon recent advances in activity-driven early neural development, we suggest a sequence of three developmental events in which TP/R might participate: the acquisition of tongue control, the integration of the central pattern generator (CPG) for TP/R with other aerodigestive CPGs, and the formation of connections within the cortical maps of S1 and M1. If correct, orofacial stereotypies are crucial to the maturation of aerodigestion in the neonatal period but also unlikely to co-occur with imitative behavior.