The sense of taste Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The sense of taste - Essay Example Also referred to as gustation the sense of taste involves a complex interaction between receptors on the individual’s tongue and mental perception. As the saliva in one’s mouth breaks down food, the taste sense receptors in the tongue relay messages to the neurological aspects of the nervous system. As one might expect there are a broad array of receptors in this region, which has led some researchers to argue that there is actually more than one sense of taste; instead they contend taste constitutes a variety of distinguishable characteristics. For instance, of the most readily distinguishable receptors function to identify tastes for sweet, salty, sour, and bitter; another receptor, referred to as the umami receptor, detects the amino acid glutamate (‘Umani Taste Receptor’). There are a number of notable elements and features related to one’s sense of taste. One of the most interesting is that while all individuals are born with a sense of taste, l ike fingerprints all individuals taste receptors are slightly different. It’s also true that as individuals age their taste receptors will correspondingly change. At an early age taste buds function around the entire individual’s mouth, but as individuals age these surrounding taste buds shrink so that they are ultimately limited to predominantly the tongue (‘Taste’).