Tongue-Strengthening Exercises in Healthy Older Adults: Specificity of Bulb Position and Detraining Effects

Clinical tongue-strengthening therapy programs are generally based on the principles of exercise and motor learning, including the specificity paradigm. The aim of this study was to investigate the specific effect of anterior and posterior tongue-strengthening exercises (TSE) on tongue strength (TS) in healthy older adults and to measure possible detraining effects. Sixteen healthy elderly completed 8 weeks of TSE by means of the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). They were distributed in two different treatment arms and performed either exclusively anterior or posterior TSE (ATSE, n = 9 or PTSE, n = 7) depending on the treatment arm. Anterior and posterior maximal isometric pressures (MIP_A, MIP_P) were measured at baseline, halfway, and after completion of the training sessions. Detraining was measured by repeating MIP_A and MIP_P measures 4 weeks after the last session of TSE. MIP_A and MIP_P increased significantly in both treatment arms. MIP_A was significantly higher in the ATSE group compared to the PTSE group across all measures in time. No significant differences were observed in MIP_P between the ATSE and PTSE groups. Regardless of treatment arm, there was no significant detraining effect measured 4 weeks after the last TSE session. This study suggests that TSE show partial specificity concerning bulb position. We conclude that especially anterior training results in higher anterior TS in comparison with posterior exercises. Furthermore, we found no detraining effects, independent of bulb location.