Abstract
The ability of tongue to find out an object in the mouth (threshold of object perception ; PT) and the ability of tongue to carry it to the masticatory surface (chewing threshold ; CT) were studied in healthy twelve adult subjects. Fine spherical materials (the lens of fish) of a size varying 0.3mm to 1.9mm in diameter were used. Both the PT and the CT values were determined by giving the spherical materials of successively increasing diameter. To estimate the tongue movement in the mouth, electromyographic activity (EMG) was recorded from the mylohyoid muscle with bipolar surface electrodes. In every subject, the PT value was smaller than the CT value. The mean value of PT in twelve subjects was 0.48±0.12mm, while the mean value of CT was 0.61±0.16mm.
