Library · Physiology
Taste
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Taste, known medically as gustation, lets you distinguish the characteristics of whatever you put in your mouth. Its specific job is to take a chemical stimulus, the dissolved substance, and turn it into a nerve signal the brain can interpret.
The structures that carry out that conversion are the taste buds, chemical receptors found on the tongue and also in the pharynx, larynx, soft palate and epiglottis. Inside each bud are basal cells, young reserve cells, and from them arise the taste receptor cells, which are the ones that actually sense flavor.
Not every flavor comes in through the same door. Salty and sour are detected by apical ion channels, that is, pores at the top of the cell that let charged particles through. Bitter, sweet and umami, the savory taste of meat and broth, are detected by G protein coupled receptors, a different kind of membrane receptor. And smell is part of the picture: with your nose blocked, flavor fades, because the tongue does not work alone.
In brief
Taste, or gustation, turns a chemical stimulus into a nerve signal that the brain interprets to identify what is being eaten.
Taste buds in the tongue, pharynx, larynx, soft palate and epiglottis contain basal cells, which give rise to the taste receptor cells.
Apical ion channels detect salty and sour; G protein coupled receptors detect bitter, sweet and umami, and smell modifies what is perceived.
With your nose blocked, flavor fades: the tongue does not work alone.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Taste, StatPearlsPublished
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