PSYC2274 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15: Lingual Papilla, Taste, Umami
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What is gustation?
- This is the sensory system connected to the receptors on the tongue. We call it “taste,”
but it is certainly not flavor! It is closely related to olfaction in structure, function, and
perception.
What are the papillae and the different forms of them?
- The papillae are where the taste buds are housed and give the tongue its bumpy
appearance. There are 4 different kinds of papillae.
- The fungiform papillae → these are NOT the taste buds themselves, but rather
where they are housed. These are the little dots that you see on the front of
your tongue. They are mushroom-shaped structures along the sides of your
tongue, especially the tip. Taste buds are buried beneath the surface at an
average of about 6 per papillae.
- The foliate papillae → located on the sides of the tongue where it attaches to
the mouth and look like a series of folds. The taste buds are located in the
folds.
- The circumvallate papillae → these are large, circular structures that form an
inverted V on the back of the tongue. They are much larger than the fungiform
papillae. They are mounds surrounded by little moats, and the taste buds are
located in the sides of those moats.
- The filiform papillae → these are WITHOUT taste function! They are located
on the anterior portion of the tongue.
What about gustation and memory?
- The gustatory sense does not have as strong of a connection to memory as olfaction does.
What are the 5 gustatory senses?
- These are salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami.
- Salty has one type of receptor (Na+ channel); sour has one type of receptor (H+ channel),
bitter has many receptor types (many ways to detect the many poisons), and sweet and
umami each have one type of receptor.
What is umami?
- Umami literally translates to “yummy” in Japanese.
What are tastants?
- Tastants are compounds that produce a gustatory sensation. They dissolve in the saliva
and attach to microvilli receptors.
What are the 2 ways tastants can produce a response in the gustatory sense neurons?
- For salty and sour, the presence of an abundance of sodium ions will produce a response.
Their tastants are cations, and they will produce a depolarization when detected.
- For the other tastants, the activation of G-protein coupled receptors will produce a
response.
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Document Summary
This is the sensory system connected to the receptors on the tongue. We call it taste, but it is certainly not flavor! It is closely related to olfaction in structure, function, and perception. The papillae are where the taste buds are housed and give the tongue its bumpy appearance. The fungiform papillae these are not the taste buds themselves, but rather where they are housed. These are the little dots that you see on the front of your tongue. They are mushroom-shaped structures along the sides of your tongue, especially the tip. Taste buds are buried beneath the surface at an average of about 6 per papillae. The foliate papillae located on the sides of the tongue where it attaches to the mouth and look like a series of folds. The taste buds are located in the folds. The circumvallate papillae these are large, circular structures that form an inverted v on the back of the tongue.
