Taste

Taste
Sensation
Sensation
 The senses of taste and smell allow us to separate
undesirable or even lethal foods from those that are
pleasant to and nutritious
 A.Stimulus – Sapid substance or substances with
taste
Primary Sensations of Taste

1. Sour Taste – caused by acid (hydrogen ion concentration.

Intensity of sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the
hydrogen ion concentration
2. Salty taste – elicited by ionized salts, mainly by sodium ion
concentration .The cations of salt especially sodium cations, are
mainly responsible for the salty
 3. Sweet Taste – is not caused by any single class of
chemicals. Includes sugars, glycols, alcohols, aldehydes,
ketones, amines, esters, some amino acids etc.

4. Bitter Taste – Like sweet taste is not caused by any single

type of chemical agent. Long chain organic substances that
contain nitrogen and alkaloids are likely to causes bitter taste
sensation

5. Umami Taste – Japanese work (meaning “delicious”)

designating a pleasant taste sensation . It is dominant in food
containing L-glutamate
A. Receptors - Taste Buds ( Sustentacular cells and
Taste cells)
Taste Bud
 Gustation:
• Sensation of taste.
 Epithelial cell receptors
clustered in barrel-shaped
taste buds.
• Each taste bud consists of
50-100 specialized epithelial
cells.
 Taste cells are not
neurons, but depolarize
upon stimulation and if
reach threshold, release
NT that stimulate sensory
neurons.
 Each taste bud contains taste cells responsive to each
of the different taste categories.
 A given sensory neuron may be stimulated by more
than 1 taste cell in # of different taste buds.
 One sensory fiber may not transmit information
specific for only 1 category of taste.
 Brain interprets the pattern of stimulation with the
sense of smell; so that we perceive the complex tastes.
Location of Taste Buds – found on three types of papillae in
the tongue (Guyton)
1. Walls of the troughs that surrounds the Circumvallate papilla
which form V line on the posterior tongue
2. Fungiform papillae over the flat anterior surface of the
tongue (moderate number)

3. Foliate papillae located in the folds along the lateral

surfaces of the tongue (moderate number)

Additional taste buds are located on the palate, tonsillar

pillars, epiglottis and proximal esophagus
(Ganong)
1. Fungiform papilla – numerous at the tip of the
tongue
2. Vallate (circumvalate ) papilla – arrange on the
back of the tongue

3. Filiform papilla – cover the dorsum of the tongue , do not usually

contain taste buds

Also in the mucosa of the epiglottis, palate, and

pharynx
Specificity of Taste Buds for a Primary Taste
Stimulus

Each taste bud usually responds mostly to one of the

five primary taste stimuli when taste substance is in
low concentration. At high concentration, most buds
can be excited by two or more of the primary taste
stimuli
 Mechanisms of Stimulation of Taste Buds
Receptor Potential

* For sodium ions and hydrogen ions, which elicit salty and
sour sensations, respectively, the receptor proteins open
specific ion channels in the apical membranes of the taste
cells, thereby activating the receptors

* For sweet and bitter taste sensation the receptor protein

molecules activate the second -messenger transmitter
substances inside the taste cells and these second
messengers cause intracellular chemical changes that elicit
the taste signals
* Taste buds from the anterior 2/3 of the tongue > Chorda
tympani branch of Facial Nerve.
* From posterior third of the tongue > Glossopharyngeal nerve

* From tonsillar areas and back of the tongue > Vagus Nerve

Tractus Solitarius (medulla oblongata) > Medial Lemniscus

> Thalamus

Center – Postcentral Gyrus

Adaptation of Taste – Extreme degree of adaptation that

occurs in the sensation of taste almost certainly occurs in
the central nervous system
 Salty:
• Na+ passes through
channels, activates
specific receptor
cells, depolarizing
the cells, and
releasing NT.
 Anions associated with
Na+ modify perceived
saltiness.
 Sour:
• Presence of H+ passes
through the channel.
 Sweet and bitter:
• Mediated by
receptors
coupled to G-
protein
(gustducin).
SVA (Special Visceral Afferent): Cranial Nerve VII, IX, X
Taste
Taste(Gustatory)
(Gustatory)Pathway
Pathway

Modality:
Modality: Taste
TasteSensation
Sensation
Receptor:
Receptor:Taste
TasteBud
Bud
Cranial
CranialNerve:
Nerve:VII,
VII,IX,
IX,XX
1st
1st Neuron:
Neuron:Geniculate
GeniculateGanglion
Ganglion(VII)
(VII)
Inferior
InferiorGanglion
Ganglion(IX,
(IX,X)
X)
2nd
2ndNeuron:
Neuron:Nucleus
NucleusTractus
TractusSolitarius
Solitarius
(Gustatory
(GustatoryNucleus)
Nucleus)
solitariothalamic
solitariothalamicfiber
fiber(central
(centraltegmental
tegmentaltract)
tract)
3rd
3rd Neuron:
Neuron:Thalamus
Thalamus(VPMpc)
(VPMpc)
Internal
InternalCapsule
Capsule-----
-----Corona
CoronaRadiata
Radiata
Termination:
Termination:Gustatory
GustatoryArea
Area
Brodmann
Brodmannarea
area43
43&&parainsular
parainsularcortex
cortex
A. nucleus tractus
solitarius
(gustatory nucleus)
B. thalamus (VPMpc)
C. Brodmann area 43
D. parainsular cortex
E. parabrachial
nucleus

1. solitariothalamic
fiber (central
tegmental tract)
2. corona radiata
VII. facial nerve
IX. glossopharyngeal
nerve
X. vagus nerve

Taste Pathways
Transmission of Signals into the Central Nervous
System (Conducting Pathway)
Abnormalities of Taste

1. Ageusia – absence of taste sensitivity

2. Hypogeusia – diminished taste sensitivity
3. Dysgeusia – disturbed sense of taste