Tereshenko Vlad, Maierhofer Udo, Dotzauer Dominik C, Laengle Gregor, Politikou Olga, Carrero Rojas Genova, Festin Christopher, Luft Matthias, Jaklin Florian J, Hruby Laura A, Gohritz Andreas, Farina Dario, Blumer Roland, Bergmeister Konstantin D, Aszmann Oskar C
Clinical Laboratory for Bionic Extremity Reconstruction, Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Front Neuroanat. 2023 Jun 2;17:1198042. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2023.1198042. eCollection 2023.
Basic behaviors, such as swallowing, speech, and emotional expressions are the result of a highly coordinated interplay between multiple muscles of the head. Control mechanisms of such highly tuned movements remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the neural components responsible for motor control of the facial, masticatory, and tongue muscles in humans using specific molecular markers (ChAT, MBP, NF, TH). Our findings showed that a higher number of motor axonal population is responsible for facial expressions and tongue movements, compared to muscles in the upper extremity. Sensory axons appear to be responsible for neural feedback from cutaneous mechanoreceptors to control the movement of facial muscles and the tongue. The newly discovered sympathetic axonal population in the facial nerve is hypothesized to be responsible for involuntary control of the muscle tone. These findings shed light on the pivotal role of high efferent input and rich somatosensory feedback in neuromuscular control of finely adjusted cranial systems.
诸如吞咽、言语和情感表达等基本行为是头部多块肌肉之间高度协调相互作用的结果。对于这种高度协调运动的控制机制，我们仍然知之甚少。在此，我们使用特定分子标记（ChAT、MBP、NF、TH）研究了负责人类面部、咀嚼和舌肌运动控制的神经成分。我们的研究结果表明，与上肢肌肉相比，有更多数量的运动轴突群体负责面部表情和舌头运动。感觉轴突似乎负责来自皮肤机械感受器的神经反馈，以控制面部肌肉和舌头的运动。面神经中新发现的交感轴突群体被认为负责肌肉张力的非自主控制。这些发现揭示了高传出输入和丰富的体感反馈在精细调节的颅部系统神经肌肉控制中的关键作用。
