This dataset provides the first fully annotated, openly available MRI-based imaging dataset for investigations of tongue musculature, including multi-contrast and multi-site MRI data from non-disease participants. The present dataset includes 47 participants collated from three studies: BeLong (four participants; T2-weighted images), EATT4MND (19 participants; T2-weighted images), and BMC (24 participants; T1-weighted images). We provide automatically generated and manually corrected segmentation of five key tongue muscles: the superior longitudinal, combined transverse/vertical, genioglossus, and inferior longitudinal muscles. Other phenotypic measures, including age, sex, weight, height, and tongue muscle volume, are also available for use. This dataset will benefit researchers across domains interested in the structure and function of the tongue in health and disease. For instance, researchers can use this data to train new machine learning models for tongue segmentation, which can be leveraged for segmentation and tracking of different tongue muscles engaged in speech formation in health and disease. Altogether, this dataset provides the means to the scientific community for investigation of the intricate tongue musculature and its role in physiological processes and speech production in health and disease.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The authors acknowledge funding by a Motor Neurone Disease Research Australia (MNDRA) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (PDF2112), NHMRC Ideas grant APP202987, FightMND Collaborative Initiative Grant, Lenity Australia, and an ARC Linkage grant (LP200301393). The data collection for EATT4MND was supported by funding from the Wesley Medical Research grant (#2017-07) and the University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine. STN acknowledges funding from the Scott Sullivan MND Research Fellowship (MND and Me Foundation, RBWH, and the University of Queensland).

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

All studies were approved by their relevant Human Research Ethics Committees. Specifically, BeLong was approved by the University of Queensland HREC (2021/HE000975), EATT4MND was approved by the University of Queensland HREC and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) HRECs (HREC/17/QRBW/616), and Uniting Care Health Human Research Ethics Committee (#1801), and the BMC dataset was approved by the University of Sydney HREC (2021/283). All participants provided written and informed consent.

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

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I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

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This dataset is deposited in the Open Science Framework (OSF), a free and open platform to support open research. The data can be accessed through this link: https://osf.io/wt9fc/.

https://osf.io/wt9fc/