title: Implications of peripheral muscular and anatomical development for the acquisition of lingual control for speech production: a review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Normally developing children learn to produce intelligible speech during rapid, non-uniform growth of their articulators and other vocal tract structures. The purpose of this review is to focus attention on the consequences of peripheral growth and development for the acquisition of lingual control for speech production. This paper (1) reviews physiological underpinnings of tongue shaping and movements that are likely to be changing in young children; (2) estimates, from previously published studies, the net consequences of growth of multiple vocal tract structures on lingual control; (3) integrates our findings with the example of [R] production, and (4) highlights areas where further investigations would be most helpful.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors searched the literature, including the PubMed database, for studies of the development of muscle proteins, muscle fibers, and motor units of the tongue, and of the growth of the tongue, jaw, adenoids, soft and hard palates, oral and pharyngeal cavities, and the vocal tract as a whole.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Substantial anatomical and muscular data sets focused on children from 1-4 years of age, and rigorous definitions of the tongue boundaries are needed.
authors.affiliation: CReSS LLC, Lexington, MA 02420, USA. megdenny@comcast.net
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Denny
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: McGowan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007821:Laryngeal Muscles / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000294:innervation; D008334:Mandible / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000294:innervation; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000254:growth & development; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000254:growth & development; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000294:innervation; D010699:Phonation / Q000502:physiology*; D011999:Recruitment, Neurophysiological / Q000502:physiology; D013065:Speech Intelligibility / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000294:innervation