Sense+of+Taste+WikiPage+NLL

Sense of Taste - 3,000 taste buds are located on the tongue of adult humans - Many taste buds lay along the walls of the papillae, the small elevations on the tongue that are visible to the naked eye. - There are 4 primary types of of taste (sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.) - A fifth may occur for certain flavors such as cheese, and some seafood. www.diwinetaste.com/.../ images/Tongue.gif //**How the Brain Receives Taste Information**// Taste buds open at a taste pore. They have supporting cells and a number of elongated taste cells that end in microvilli. When molecules bind to receptor proteins of the microvilli, nerve impulses are generated in sensory nerve fibers that go to the brain. When they reach the gustatory cortex, they are interpreted as particular taste. Since we can respond to a range of sweet, sour, salty. and bitter tastes, the brain appears to survey the overall tern of incoming sensory impulses and to take a "weighted average" of their taste messages as the perceived taste. Our senses depend on sensory receptors, the cortex integrates the incoming information and gives us our sensations.

Without a tongue, it would be impossible to lick an ice cream cone and its taste would be minimal.

www.cartoonstock.com/ lowres/cts0005l.jpg Sour food.... www.gawker.com/.../ resources/2008/05/lemon.jpeg

sweet food... www.mycupcakerecipes.com/.../ cupcake-recipes.jpg

salty food... conveniencestorenews.files.wordpress.com/ 2008...

Bitter food... www.sallys-place.com/.../ SPANISH%20OLIVES.jpg 