DQ1 Week 6

Ernie has difficulty swallowing, loss of taste sensation in the posterior one-third of the right half of his tongue, and decreased salivation, especially on the right side. Describe the sensory portion of the affected neuropathway in Ernie.

Ernies difficulty swallowing and the loss of taste of the posterior one-third of the half of the tongue could be caused from injury or inflammation to the glossopharyngeal nerve as this could impair swallowing and taste on the posterior third of the tongue, particularly for sour and bitter tasting substances and this could also involve the Vagus nerve that carries a few fibers for taste sensation from the epiglottis. The decreased in salivation could be caused by an injury or inflammation to the facial nerve that controls saliva secretion. These nerves extend from the taste buds to the tractus solitarius of the medulla oblongata; fibers from this nucleus decussate and extend to the thalamus. Neurons from the thalamus project to the taste area of the cortex, which is located in the insula, deep to the inferior end of the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe. Also a damage to the hypoglossal nerve causes difficulties in speech and swallowing. It could be that because Ernie is only presenting symptoms on one side of the tongue; the tongue leans toward the affected side and can become paralyzed.