Head posture impacts mammalian hyoid position and suprahyoid muscle length: implication for swallowing biomechanics
Instantaneous head posture (IHP) can extensively alter resting hyoid position in humans, yet postural effects on resting hyoid position remain poorly documented among mammals in general. Clarifying this relationship is essential for evaluating interspecific variation in hyoid posture across evolutio...
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Published in | Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences Vol. 378; no. 1891; p. 20220552 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
The Royal Society
04.12.2023
|
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Instantaneous head posture (IHP) can extensively alter resting hyoid position in humans, yet postural effects on resting hyoid position remain poorly documented among mammals in general. Clarifying this relationship is essential for evaluating interspecific variation in hyoid posture across evolution, and understanding its implications for hyolingual soft tissue function and swallowing motor control. Using
Didelphis virginiana
as a model, we conducted static manipulation experiments to show that head flexion shifts hyoid position rostrally relative to the cranium across different gapes. IHP-induced shifts in hyoid position along the anteroposterior axis are comparable to
in vivo
hyoid protraction distance during swallowing. IHP also has opposite effects on passive genio- and stylohyoid muscle lengths. High-speed biplanar videoradiography suggests
Didelphis
consistently swallows at neutral to flexed posture, with stereotyped hyoid kinematics across different head postures. IHP change can affect suprahyoid muscle force production by shifting their positions on the length-tension curve, and redirecting lines of action and the resultant force from supra- and infrahyoid muscles. We hypothesize that demands on muscle performance may constrain the range of swallowing head postures in mammals.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Food processing and nutritional assimilation in animals’. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 One contribution of 18 to a theme issue ‘Food processing and nutritional assimilation in animals’. Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6834896. |
ISSN: | 0962-8436 1471-2970 |
DOI: | 10.1098/rstb.2022.0552 |