How the Tongue Tastes

By Emily Junaedi, 2027

Published 11/2/2023

On Halloween, bowls of candy and chocolate are put out for trick-or-treaters. Countless children rush home with their candy and quickly indulge in them. The sugar in the treats causes their brains to produce dopamine, the brain’s pleasure hormone. This phenomenon is why many people favor sweet foods. But how exactly do our tongues know what is sweet and what’s not, and how do they function in our daily lives?

The average person has around 10,000 taste buds, and each has between fifty and a hundred taste buds. Many assume that “taste buds” refers to the visible bumps on the tongue; however, those are called Papillae, and they contain taste buds within them. Actual taste buds are too small to be seen by the naked eye. The taste buds contain receptors, which are molecules that can differentiate the tastes and then send the information to the brain. Despite what the myths might say, our tongue does not have five different sections for the fundamental sweet, sour, bitter, umami, and salty taste qualities of food. Different areas of the tongue may be more sensitive to the tastes than others, but every taste bud can taste all five qualities.

When your nose gets stuffy, have you noticed that you can’t taste very well? That’s because the smelling and tasting senses are closely connected. Just as your taste buds identify taste, the nerves inside of your nose determine smell. Determining the “flavor” of a food requires both of the senses. The flavor of a food is a combination of its smell, taste, temperature, texture, and spiciness. On a psychological level, the sensory cortex of your brain is responsible for determining flavor. The sensory cortex is located in the parietal lobe and contains the areas associated with the five senses. The areas that respond to taste and smell are in similar locations, so blocking your brain’s signals to smell also inhibits signals to your brain about taste.

Besides tasting, the tongue has many other functions: with eight muscles, while it is not the strongest organ, it is very flexible, allowing us to chew, swallow our food, and talk without tiring out. 

The tongue is an amazing organ; without it, how would you be able to taste your favorite Halloween candy?