Lecture 7- Taste

Question 1

taste

Answer 1

sensations evoked by solutions in the mouth that contact the receptors on the tongue and roof of the mouth

Question 2

flavour

Answer 2

combination of true taste (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami) and retronasal olfaction

Question 3

retronasal olfactory sensation

Answer 3

the sensation of an odour that is perceived when chewing and swallowing forces an odorant in the mouth up behind the palate into the nose

Question 4

chemical senses

Answer 4

taste and smell

Question 5

elements

Answer 5

substances that cannot be broken down into simpler substances (sort of)

Question 6

chemicals

Answer 6

elements or combinations of elements

Question 7

chemical compound

Answer 7

substance composed of 2 or more elements in a fixed proportion

Question 8

odorant

Answer 8

basic stimulant for smell is a chemical compound called an odorant

Question 9

tastant

Answer 9

basic stimulant for taste

Question 10

papillae

Answer 10

bumps on our tongues

Question 11

taste buds

Answer 11

found in the divots between papillae and they contain taste receptor cells

Question 12

fungiform papillae

Answer 12

located throughout the tongue, but with the highest concentrations along the tip and the sides
- contain taste buds which are sensitive to all 5? tastes

Question 13

filiform papillae

Answer 13

small and located throughout the tongue
- no taste buds!!! responsible for the tongue’s sense of touch

Question 14

circumvallate papillae

Answer 14

humans usually have between 6-12 of these, sensitive to bitter tastes

Question 15

foliate papillae

Answer 15

look like fish gills, located on side of tongue near the back
- lots of taste buds

Question 16

solubilized

Answer 16

in order to be tasted, molecules is food must be dissolved (solubilized) by saliva

Question 17

amylase enzyme

Answer 17

in saliva, breaks down starch and turns into sugar

Question 18

taste pore

Answer 18

tips of taste receptor cells reach up into an opening, the :

Question 19

Microvilli

Answer 19

“taste hairs”- tips of the taste receptor cells

Question 20

approx how many taste receptor cells do humans have

Answer 20

300,000

Question 21

four basic tastes: salty

Answer 21

made up of 2 charged particles: 1 cation 1 anion (sodium chloride)
- early experience can modify salt preference, perception changes over time

Question 22

four basic tastes: sour

Answer 22

comes from acidic substances
- can damage body tissues at high concentrations

Question 23

four basic tastes: bitter

Answer 23

cannot distinguish between tastes of different bitter compounds
- all bitter is bitter
- can be poisonous
- can “turn off” bitter perception
- intensifies during pregnancy for women

Question 24

four basic tastes: sweet

Answer 24

evoked by sugars, many different sugars taste sweet
- single receptor type is responsible for all sweet perception ; different sweeteners stimulate different parts of receptors

Question 25

glucose

Answer 25

principle source of energy for most animals

Question 26

fructose

Answer 26

sweeter than glucose

Question 27

sucrose

Answer 27

common table sugar; combo of glucose and fructose

Question 28

umami

Answer 28

candidate for 5th basic taste
- comes from monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Question 29

GLUTAMATE

Answer 29

IMPORTANT NEUROTRANSMITTER

Question 30

safety issues of consuming MSG

Answer 30

numbness, headache, flushing, tingling, sweating, tightness in the chest if sensitive people consume a large amount

Question 31

cross-modality matching

Answer 31

The human ability to match the intensities of sensations that come from different sensory modalities
- used to assess the intensity of taste sensations for non, medium, and supertasters

Question 32

labelled lines

Answer 32

each taste receptor connects to a nerve fibre that signals a particular taste quality (separate nerves)
- suggests that info about taste qualities flows along specific and distinct paths:

Question 33

nerves in the mouth gather into 3 bundles:

Answer 33

1 in from the front of the tongue (nerve VII)
1 from the back of tongue (nerve IX)
1 from throat (nerve X)

Question 34

where do the nerves in the mouth travel to?

Answer 34

towards the medulla to an area called the nucleus of the solitary tract

Question 35

what is responsible for these reflexes: gagging, coughing?

Answer 35

sensory nuclei in the nucleus of solitary tract

Question 36

what order does taste info go through the brain?

Answer 36

nerves in mouth
the nucleus of solitary tract
thalamus
primary taste cortex (gustatory cortex)
* amygdala and hypothalamus

Question 37

amygdala function

Answer 37

linking emotional states with memories

Question 38

hypothalamus function

Answer 38

memory creation and storage

Question 39

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 39

stimulus which generates a reflexive response: no learning required

Question 40

unconditioned response

Answer 40

unlearned reflex elicited by the unconditioned stimulus

Question 41

neutral stimuli

Answer 41

not responsive at first

Question 42

conditioned stimulus

Answer 42

researchers

Question 43

conditioned response

Answer 43

drool

Question 44

biological preparedness

Answer 44

the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) are structurally hard-wired to make conditioned stimulus connections related to life-critical unconditioned stimuli, even with very limited learning opportunities

Question 45

capsaicin

Answer 45

chemical that produces the burn in chilis ALSO desensitizes pain receptors