Gustation

Question 1

Vallate papillae

Answer 1

hold the largest taste buds in the posterior 1/3rd of the tongue

Question 2

Fungiform papillae

Answer 2

Mushroom-shaped (and most common) papillae of the tongue. Cover the anterior 2/3rd of the tongue

Question 3

Foliate papillae

Answer 3

Papillae only present in the first few years of life, located on the lateral aspect of the tongue

Question 4

Filiform papillae

Answer 4

DO NOT hold taste buds. Rather they are bump ridges on the tongue to increase friction - good for licking things

Question 5

Gustatory receptor cells

Answer 5

Epitihelial cells with hairs push through the taste pore and out into the oral cavity. Chemoreceptors bind sweet, bitter & umami tastants to trigger secondary messenger paths to depolarize the cells with Ca influx to trigger NT release from synaptic vesicles and the synaptic cleft

Question 6

Supporting cells

Answer 6

Provide physical and metabolic support to the gustatory receptor cells

Question 7

Basal cells

Answer 7

Lie at the basal end of the taste bud, near the lamina propria, mitotically dividing into cells that replace gustatory receptor cells lost every 7-9 days or so

Question 8

CN VII (Facial)

Answer 8

Carries taste fibers from the fungiform papillae of the anterior 2/3 of the tongue to the Nucleus Tractus solitarius. Then on to the thalamus and to the primary gustatory area, with collaterals given off to the hippocampus, hypothalamus, and amygdala

Question 9

CN IX (Glossopharyngeal)

Answer 9

Carries taste fibers from the posterior 1/3rd of the tongue (mostly from the vallate papillae) to the NTs

Question 10

CN X (Vagus)

Answer 10

Carries taste fibers from the soft palate, epiglottis & pharynx (from taste buds in fungiform papillae) to the NTs