This investigation was designed to obtain anatomical information about the neuromuscular mechanism of human jaw movement by a comparative study of insectivores. Study of the masticatory muscles of the Japanese shrew-mole showed that muscle spindles are concentrated in restricted areas of the inner layer of the horizontal and vertical portions of the temporal muscle, the medial portion of the medial pterygoid muscle, and the deep portion of the masseter muscle. The lateral pterygoid muscle contains no spindles.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Karlsen, K.: The Location of Motor End Plates and the Distribution and Histological Structure of Muscle Spindles in Jaw Muscles of the Rat, Acta Odontol Scand23:521-547, 1965.
2.
Susuki, H.: Studies on the Masticatory Muscle, Especially on the Muscle Spindles, Shika-Geppo21:99-105, 1941 (in Japanese).
3.
Smith, R.D., and Marcarian, H.Q.: The Neuromuscular Spindles of the Lateral Pterygoid Muscle, Anat Anz120:47-53, 1967.
4.
Freimann, R. : Untersuchungen iiber Zahl und Anordnung der Muskelspindeln in den Kaumuskeln des Menschen, Anat Anz100: 258-264, 1953-1954.
5.
Voss, H.: Ein besonders reichliches Vorkommen von Muskelspindeln in der tiefen Portion des M. masseter des Menschen und der Anthropoiden, Anat Anz81 :290-292, 1935-1936.
6.
Cipollone, L.T. : Ricerche sull'anatomia normale e patologica della terminazioni nervose ne muscoli striati, Ann Med nav, Bertero, Roma, 1897. Cited in CHRISTENSEN, L.V., 1967 and KARLSEN, K., 1969.
7.
Karlsen, K.: Fibre Calibre Spectra of Nerves to the Masticatory Muscles in the Cat, Acta Odontol Scand27:265-270, 1968.
8.
Karlsen, K.: Muscle Spindles in the Lateral Pterygoid Muscle of a Monkey (Macacus irus) , Arch Oral Biol14 :1111-1112, 1969 .
9.
Honée, G.L.J. M.: An Investigation on the Presence of Muscle Spindles in the Human Lateral Pterygoid Muscle (Preliminary Report), Ned Tijdschr Tandheelkd (Suppl 73):43-48, 1966.
10.
Thilander, B.: Fibre Analysis of the Lateral Pterygoid Nerve , Acta Odontol Scand22:157-163, 1964.
11.
Franks, A.S.T. : Studies on the Innervation of the Temporomandibular Joint and Lateral Pterygoid Muscle in Animals, J Dent Res43:947-948, 1964.
12.
Voss, H.: Gibt es Muskeln ohne Muskelspindeln ? Anat Anz125:549-551, 1969.
13.
Portela-Gomes, F.: L'innervation proprioceptive du muscle pterygoidien externe chez l'homme et chez le lapin, C R Assoc Anat48(119):1093-1097, 1963.
14.
Christensen, L.V.: Muscle Spindles in the Lateral Pterygoid Muscle of Miniature Swine, Arch Oral Biol12:1203-1204, 1967.
