Anatomy and Physiology of The Digestive System: Tongue Muscles

Anatomy and Physiology of the Digestive System
The digestive system is a group of

organs working together to convert food into
energy and basic nutrients to feed the entire
body. Food passes through a long tube inside
the body known as the alimentary canal or the
gastrointestinal tract (GI tract). The alimentary
canal is made up of the oral cavity, pharynx,
esophagus, stomach, small intestines, and
large intestines.
Food begins its journey through the
digestive system in the mouth. Inside the
mouth are many accessory organs that aid in
the digestion of foodthe tongue, teeth, and
salivary glands. Teeth are designed for cutting
and grinding food into smaller pieces, which
are moistened by saliva before the tongue and other muscles push the food into the
pharynx.
The tongue is located on the inferior portion of the mouth just posterior and
medial to the teeth. It is a small organ made up of several pairs of muscles. The outside
of the tongue contains many rough papillae for gripping food as it is moved by the
tongues muscles. The taste buds on the surface of the tongue detect taste molecules in
food and connect to nerves in the tongue to send taste information to the brain. The
tongue also helps to push food toward the posterior part of the mouth for swallowing.
Surrounding the mouth are 3 sets of salivary gland: parotid gland, sublingual
gland and submandibular gland. These salivary glands are accessory organs that
produce a watery secretion known as saliva. Saliva helps to moisten food and begins
the digestion of carbohydrates. The body also uses saliva to lubricate food as it passes
through the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus.
The pharynx, or throat, is a funnel-shaped tube connected to the posterior end of
the mouth. It is responsible for the passing of masses of chewed food from the mouth to
the esophagus. It also serves as passageway of air going to the lungs. Because the
pharynx serves two different functions, it contains a flap of tissue known as the
epiglottis that acts as a switch to route food to the esophagus and air to the larynx.
The esophagus is a muscular tube connecting the pharynx to the stomach. It
carries swallowed masses of chewed food along its length. At the inferior end of the
esophagus is a muscular ring called the lower esophageal sphincter or cardiac sphincter.
The function of this sphincter is to close of the end of the esophagus and trap food in
the stomach.
The stomach is a muscular sac that is located on the left side of the abdominal
cavity, just inferior to the diaphragm. This major organ acts as a storage tank for food
so that the body has time to digest large meals properly. The stomach also contains
hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes that continue the digestion of food that began
in the mouth.
The small intestine is a long, thin tube about 1 inch in diameter and about 10
feet long that is part of the lower gastrointestinal tract. It is located just inferior to the
stomach and takes up most of the space in the abdominal cavity. The entire small
intestine is coiled like a hose and the inside surface is full of many ridges and folds.
These folds are used to maximize the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. By
the time food leaves the small intestine, around 90% of all nutrients have been
extracted from the food that entered it.
The large intestine is a long, thick tube about 2 inches in diameter and about 5
feet long. It is located just inferior to the stomach and wraps around the superior and
lateral border of the small intestine. The large intestine absorbs water and contains
many symbiotic bacteria that aid in the breaking down of wastes to extract some small
amounts of nutrients. Feces in the large intestine exit the body through the anal canal.
In addition to the alimentary canal, there are several important accessory organs
that help your body to digest food but do not have food pass through them. Other
accessory organs of the digestive system include liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.
The liver is a roughly triangular accessory organ of the digestive system located
to the right of the stomach, just inferior to the diaphragm and superior to the small
intestine. It has many different functions in the body, but the main function of the liver
in digestion is the production of bile and its secretion into the small intestine.
The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located just posterior to the liver.
The gallbladder is used to store and recycle excess bile from the small intestine so that
it can be reused for the digestion of subsequent meals.
The pancreas is a large gland located just inferior and posterior to the stomach. It
secretes digestive enzymes into the small intestine to complete the chemical digestion
of foods.
To achieve the goal of providing energy and nutrients to the body, six major
functions take place in the digestive system. The first function of the digestive system is
ingestion, or the intake of food. The mouth is responsible for this function, as it is the
orifice through which all food enters the body. The mouth and stomach are also
responsible for the storage of food as it is waiting to be digested. This storage capacity
allows the body to eat only a few times each day and to ingest more food than it can
process at one time.
In the course of a day, the digestive system secretes around 7 liters of fluids.
These fluids include saliva, mucus, hydrochloric acid, enzymes, and bile. Saliva
moistens dry food and contains salivary amylase, a digestive enzyme that begins the
digestion of carbohydrates. Mucus serves as a protective barrier and lubricant inside of
the GI tract. Hydrochloric acid helps to digest food chemically and protects the body by
killing bacteria present in our food. Enzymes are like tiny biochemical machines that
disassemble large macromolecules like proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids into their
smaller components. Finally, bile is used to emulsify large masses of lipids into tiny
globules for easy digestion.
The digestive system uses 3 main processes to move and mix food: Swallowing is
the process of using smooth and skeletal muscles in the mouth, tongue, and pharynx to
push food out of the mouth, through the pharynx, and into the esophagus. Second is
Peristalsis, it is a muscular wave that travels the length of the GI tract, moving partially
digested food a short distance down the tract. It takes many waves of peristalsis for
food to travel from the esophagus, through the stomach andintestines, and reach the
end of the GI tract. And lastlt, is Segmentation, it occurs only in the small intestine as
short segments of intestine contract like hands squeezing a toothpaste tube.
Segmentation helps to increase the absorption of nutrients by mixing food and
increasing its contact with the walls of the intestine.
Digestion is the process of turning large pieces of food into its component
chemicals. Mechanical digestion is the physical breakdown of large pieces of food into
smaller pieces. This mode of digestion begins with the chewing of food by the teeth and
is continued through the muscular mixing of food by the stomach and intestines. Bile
produced by the liver is also used to mechanically break fats into smaller globules.
While food is being mechanically digested it is also being chemically digested as larger
and more complex molecules are being broken down into smaller molecules that are
easier to absorb. Chemical digestion begins in the mouth with salivary amylase in saliva
splitting complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrates. The enzymes and acid in
the stomach continue chemical digestion, but the bulk of chemical digestion takes place
in the small intestine thanks to the action of the pancreas. The pancreas secretes an
incredibly strong digestive cocktail known as pancreatic juice, which is capable of
digesting lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. By the time food has left
the duodenum, it has been reduced to its chemical building blocksfatty acids, amino
acids, monosaccharides, and nucleotides.
Once food has been reduced to its building blocks, it is ready for the body to
absorb. Absorption begins in the stomach with simple molecules like water and alcohol
being absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Most absorption takes place in the walls
of the small intestine, which are densely folded to maximize the surface area in contact
with digested food. Small blood and lymphatic vessels in the intestinal wall pick up the
molecules and carry them to the rest of the body. The large intestine is also involved in
the absorption of water and vitamins B and K before feces leave the body.
The final function of the digestive system is the excretion of waste in a process
known as defecation. Defecation removes indigestible substances from the body so that
they do not accumulate inside the gut. The timing of defecation is controlled voluntarily
by the conscious part of the brain, but must be accomplished on a regular basis to
prevent a backup of indigestible materials.

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Anatomy and Physiology of the Digestive System

The digestive system is a group of

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