Intrinsic muscles of the tongue

The intrinsic muscles of the tongue are a group of 4 muscular bands in the tongue. In comparison to the extrinsic muscles of the tongue, they are entirely within the tongue with no external attachments. They act to alter the shape of the tongue where as the extrinsic tongue muscles alter the position of the tongue. The four muscles are:

• superior longitudinal muscle of the tongue
• inferior longitudinal muscle of the tongue
• transverse muscle of the tongue
• vertical muscle of the tongue