1. Courtesy of Your Tongue!
How we Taste
Courtesy of Your Tongue!

2. Anatomy of the Tongue

3. Ever Seen a Cat’s Tongue Close Up?

4. How do We Taste? Intro to 4 Taste Regions
Bitter
Sour
Salty
Sweet

5. To Understand Taste, look at a Taste Bud

6. The Buds send signals along Nerves to the brain

7. Taste Buds come in 4 Varieties
Each taste bud is receptive to a specific “chemical family”
Bitter
Sour
Salty
Sweet

8. Inside a Bud

9. Swallowing – Tongue Against Roof of Mouth

10. Spicy Food Explanation
What creates the heat/pain we feel when we eat spicy food?
Chemicals in:
ginger
pepper
onions
Stimulate heat - pain receptors directly, simulating the experience of heat

11. What about Cool Mint?
Mint is a flavor picked up by sweet, sour, bitter and salty taste buds
Mint temporarily inhibits (stops) the buds from sending a signal, including some heat nerves in the tongue
An absence of heat SEEMS to be COOLNESS.

12. Colds and Taste Much of taste comes from vapors that reach the nose
Smell is often confused with taste although they usually work as partners to produce TASTE!
With a cold, sensory nerves do not work properly, so you can’t smell or taste properly.

13. Law of Diminishing Returns
The more bites you take
The more the nerves fire
Nerves get tired
Signal weakens
So ….Taste enjoyment falls
Solution:
Eat a variety of things!

14. Now, we’ll do a Lab that Tests out These Receptors