soft palate Flashcards
sphincter
- separate the oral and nasal cavities during swallowing
- maintain patency of the respiratory tract during quiet breathing
soft palate and ___ are interchangable terms
- velum
* nomenclature
velopharyngeal port
-opening created by velar lowering
uvula
- most visable part of velum
- small extension of muscle hanging down at back of cavity
basic velar function
- velopharyngeal port is normally open maximally during rest breathing to enable unencumbered flow of air through the nasal passages
- during swallowing it is important that tight velopharyngeal closure be achieved to prevent nasal regurgitation of food and fluids
- overall function to provide separation between oral and nasal cavities during speech and swallowing
soft palate at rest
- extends downward into oral cavity
- uvula visible
- oral surface of velum rests on posterior tongue
default position of velum is
-open
soft palate is
- muscular extension of hard palate
- terminates in uvula
- posterior spine on palatine bone marks beginning of soft palate
- extends to posterior pharyngeal wall
curve found on nasal surface of velum
- velar eminence
- typical point of contact between velum and pharyngeal wall
velum is situated at level of
C1
anterior portion is more ____ posterior portion is more ____
-muscular with consistent structure
effects closure and must have dependable function/structure
-variable and less critical for closure
nasal surface epithelium
- anterior
- respiratory type ciliated columnar epithelium
- posterior
- stratified squamous epithelium
oral surface epithelium
- stratified squamous
- surface is thicker, potentially to cope with abrasive effects of bolus
- has some taste buds
anterior portion
- aponeurosis
- divides hard palate from muscles
- certain velar muscles insert into aponeurosis
- no velar muscles insert on hard palate in normal development
levator veli palatini
- main palatal elevator
- retract and elevates soft tissue
- bulk of soft palate
- arise from petrous temporal bone and medial wall of eustachian tube
- courses downward and forward to insert in palatal aponeurosis of soft palate
- innervated pharyngeal plexus
- form sling that suspends soft palate
- at rest 60 degrees
- retracted 20 degrees
- innervated pharyngeal plexus CN XI
tensor veli palatini
- bulk of muscle in pterygoid fossa between pterygoid muscles
- course downward and medially
- origin 1 is cranial base
- origin 2 is eustachian tube
- insert in palatine aponeurosis
- function is to open eustachian tube
- innervated motor root CN V
musculus uvulae
- only intrinsic muscle of soft palate
- closing velum
- originates in aponeurosis
- no muscle fibers
- some people two paired other single
- fibers encapsulated by connective tissue
- function:
- fill bulk of velum to assist in sealing VP port
- cleft palate lack uvula
- help assist LVP in closure
- facial nerve via lesser palatine branch
superior pharyngeal constrictor
- forms upper posterior pharyngeal wall and upper lateral pharyngeal wall
- effects inward movement of pharynx at level of soft palate
- muscle has multiple sites of origin
- pterygopharyngeus
- buccopharyngeus
- mylopharyngeus
- glossopharyngeus
- fan shaped
- fibers meet posteriorly in midline to form pharyngeal raphe
- fibers in superior region attach to velum and may aid in retraction
- innervated pharyngeal plexus
palatopharyngeus
- only partially contained in post faucial pillar
- transverse fibers course from velum to insert in lateral pharyngeal walls - thyroid cartilage with stylopharyngeus
- fibers in faucial piller descend to greater horn of thyroid cartilage
- function:
- transverse pull walls of pharynx inward and help form passavants ridge
- post faucial pillar
- work with palatoglossus in raising tongue or pulling velum down
- narrow pharynx walls during vowel articulations
- innervated pharyngeal plexus
palatoglossus
- course from lateral margins of velum and extends through anterior faucial pillar to insert into lateral aspects of tongue body
- assist in velar lowering, tongue elevation, constrict faucial isthmus
- important in swallowing
- small
- innervated pharyngeal plexus
salpingopharyngeus
- small muscle attached to posterior-inferior aspects of eustachian tube
- arise in auditory tube close in nasopharynx
- course downward through salpingopharyngeal fold
- pull lateral walls of pharynx superiorly
- assist in downward transport of boltus in swallowing
- innervated pharyngeal plexus
motor innervation unceratinty
- which crainal nerves make up pharyngeal plexus
- is second source of innervation
- is facial nerve sole source of innervation of muscular uvulae
need to determine whether there are different neural control patterns for speech versus nonspeech activities (swallowing)
- different movement patterns speech vs nonspeech
- possible finer control is necessary for speech vs swallowing
sensory innervation
- cranial nerves V VII IX and X
- decreases from anterior to posterior oropharyngeal cavity
- little known about significance
basic function in speech
- opens to allow nasal airflow and resonances (nasality, nasalization)
- closes to prevent nasal airflow and resonance (oral sounds)
timing factors are critical in speech
-velum needs to lower in anticipation of nasal sounds and elevate in for nonnasal sounds
speakers can vary
- velopharyngeal activity for specific
- language, dialect, grammatical requirements and individual patterns
- some dialects more nasal than others
velopharyngeal closure patterns
- necessary during oralized vs nasalized sounds
- the production of oralized sounds /s/
- elevated and retracted to make complete contact against posterior pharyngeal wall
pharyngeal wall movement also contributes to
- velopharyngeal closure
- lateral pharyngeal wall movements to the midline and posterior movement of velum creates sphincter-like closure pattern
normal closure patterns
- coronal patter
- most common
- major closure componant upward and backward movement of velum
- create coronal aperture that completely closes port
- lateral pharyngeal wall movement also contributes
anterior motion of posterior pharyngeal wall minimal in normal mechanism
- individuals with insufficient velar elevation and retraction
- anterior movement consists of a bulging forward of posterior pharyngeal wall during closure attempts
- passavants ridge
other closure patterns
- coronal with marked medial movement of lateral pharyngeal walls
- circular with equal contribution from velum and lateral pharyngeal walls
- circular with passavants ridge
- saggital - lateral pharyngeal wall movement major componant
velum closure forces
- force varies with type of speech sounds
- greater with high vowels than low vowels
- greater for pressure consonants (stops, fricatives, affricates) than vowels
no difference in closure force data of males and females
- males exhibit larger range and variability of closure forces
- more restricted range of upward velar movement in females
variability of closure in males in females
-accounted for by activity of levator veli palatini
passavants ridge variability
- repaired cleft palate
- velopharyngeal area encompassed by circle
- passavants ridge bulging forward to make contact with elevated and retracted velum
velopharyngeal closure may be assisted by
- contact of velum against enlarged adenoid pad
- typically found in children before adenoid involution occurs
- when adenoid involution occurs in adolesence velum normally adapts to larger excursion required to achieve velopharyngeal closure
- occasionally velum may not have sufficient size or mobility to contact adenoid pad as adenoid tissue involutes
