Doctoral Dissertation Research: Assessing the chewing function of the hyoid bone and the suprahyoid muscles in primates

博士论文研究：评估灵长类动物舌骨和舌骨上肌的咀嚼功能

• 批准号: 2337428
• 负责人: Claire Terhune
• 金额: $ 3.26万
• 依托单位: University of Arkansas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-15 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2337428&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Assessing; chewing

The hyoid is a small u-shaped bone that sits at the base of the tongue and the top of the larynx (voice box). The shape and muscular attachments to this bone are important for tongue movements, chewing, swallowing, and vocalization. This doctoral dissertation research investigates the relationship between shape, position, and muscular attachment of the hyoid to determine the role of this bone in feeding across primates. This work informs researchers about the function of the hyoid, which may result in the formation of novel treatments for speech and swallowing disorders in humans. This work also builds STEM talent by supporting undergraduate and graduate training and creating an openly available dataset of microCT scans that can be used in scientific outreach projects aimed at K-12 students and the public. Overall, this work is poised to educate the public on scientific and evolutionary concepts, build and encourage future researchers, and add to the current understanding of head and neck anatomy and function, which has important biomedical implications. The hyoid and the muscles that connect it to the skull (i.e., the suprahyoid muscles), are central to chewing, swallowing, tongue manipulation, and vocalization. How these behaviors, specifically those involved in feeding, affect hyoid anatomy is not well known as previous work has focused on vocalization as a driving factor for hyoid shape. The hyoid is in near-constant motion during feeding and is pulled toward the oral cavity during swallowing by the suprahyoid muscles. The goal of this research is to quantify the impact of swallowing by evaluating variation in hyoid shape and position and their relationship to the suprahyoid muscles and skull in primates. This project utilizes microCT scans and iodine staining methods to visualize the hyoid apparatus along with 3D shape analyses to investigate the relationships between the hyoid, skull, and musculature. Additionally, this work analyzes how these relationships change throughout growth and development in two closely related species of primates with notable differences in diet. In doing so, this work can provide valuable insights into the evolution of human hyoid shape and function and put human hyoid anatomy into the broader context of primate hyoid variation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

舌骨是一块小 U 形骨，位于舌头底部和喉部（喉部）顶部。这块骨头的形状和肌肉附着对于舌头运动、咀嚼、吞咽和发声很重要。本博士论文研究调查了舌骨的形状、位置和肌肉附着之间的关系，以确定该骨在灵长类动物进食中的作用。这项工作让研究人员了解了舌骨的功能，这可能会导致人类言语和吞咽障碍的新疗法的形成。这项工作还通过支持本科生和研究生培训以及创建可用于针对 K-12 学生和公众的科学推广项目的公开可用的 microCT 扫描数据集来培养 STEM 人才。总体而言，这项工作旨在教育公众科学和进化概念，培养和鼓励未来的研究人员，并增加目前对头颈部解剖学和功能的理解，这具有重要的生物医学意义。 舌骨以及将其连接到头骨的肌肉（即舌骨上肌）是咀嚼、吞咽、舌头操作和发声的中心。这些行为，特别是那些涉及进食的行为，如何影响舌骨解剖结构尚不清楚，因为之前的工作主要集中在发声作为舌骨形状的驱动因素。舌骨在进食过程中几乎持续运动，并在吞咽过程中被舌骨上肌拉向口腔。这项研究的目的是通过评估灵长类动物舌骨形状和位置的变化及其与舌骨上肌肉和头骨的关系来量化吞咽的影响。该项目利用 microCT 扫描和碘染色方法来可视化舌骨装置，并通过 3D 形状分析来研究舌骨、颅骨和肌肉组织之间的关系。此外，这项工作还分析了两种密切相关、饮食差异显着的灵长类动物在生长和发育过程中这些关系如何变化。在此过程中，这项工作可以为人类舌骨形状和功能的进化提供有价值的见解，并将人类舌骨解剖学置于更广泛的灵长类舌骨变异背景中。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。