[Tongue as a reflector of cerebral and articulatory dysfunction. Tongue motility test for three- to five-year-old children].

The tongue motility test has been developed to test the motility of the tongue in three- to five-year-old preschool children. It examines the resting position of the tongue and the mobility of the tongue in relation to 9 different movement patterns of varying degrees of difficulty. The result of the test is represented by the number of points obtained (minimum = 0, maximum = 10). The results of a routine investigation of 865 children provide the normal value for the tongue motility test. This is especially related to the age and less to the sex of the subject. The significance of the tongue motility test for the diagnosis of "minimal cerebral dysfunction" and for the investigation of the stage of articulatory development of a child is discussed.