The gustatory system allows animals to distinguish between safe and harmful food, and to gauge foods' nutritional value. Digestive enzymes in saliva begin to dissolve food into base chemicals that are washed over the … See more

The tongue can also feel other sensations not generally included in the basic tastes. These are largely detected by the somatosensory system. In humans, the sense of taste is … See more

Supertasters
A supertaster is a person whose sense of taste is significantly more sensitive than most. The cause of … See more

Patients with Addison's disease, pituitary insufficiency, or cystic fibrosis sometimes have a hyper-sensitivity to the five primary tastes.
Disorders of taste
• ageusia (complete loss of taste)
• hypogeusia (reduced … See more

Measuring the degree to which a substance presents one basic taste can be achieved in a subjective way by comparing its taste to a … See more

Taste is a form of chemoreception which occurs in the specialised taste receptors in the mouth. To date, there are five different types of taste these receptors can detect which are … See more

The glossopharyngeal nerve innervates a third of the tongue including the circumvallate papillae. The facial nerve innervates the other two thirds of the tongue and the cheek via the chorda tympani.
The See more