Taste Synthesis Essay

The sensation of taste is produced when a substance binds to taste receptor cells present in the oral cavity. Most of the taste receptor cells are present on the tongue, but they are also on places like the lips and cheeks. Taste receptor cells are found on taste receptors (or taste buds), which are located on the papillae. There are four different papillae: filiform, fungiform, circumvallate, and folate. These different papillae are present on different parts on the tongue (figure 1). Each papillae contains hundreds of taste buds, except for the filiform which contains none. To perceive taste, a substance or tastant binds to a taste receptor that then sends a signal via the taste neuron to the brain. The brain translates this signal to a sensation

Smell is the perceiving of odours that are present in the air. The sense of smell occurs when molecules of odorants bind to specific receptors on the olfactory receptors. These receptors are present in the olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity. When an odorant binds to a receptor the chemical signals are translated to electrical signals. The electrical signals are first send to the glomerulus in the olfactory bulb and later send to higher brain regions via the olfactory nerve. In the brain the signals are translated back to a sensation of smell. An overview of the olfaction system can be seen in figure 2.For olfaction it is also possible that the odours are not perceived normally. In this case the disorders are called smell disorders. They can be put in two categories: quantitative smell disorders and qualitative smell disorders. Quantitative smell disorders are the complete or partial loss of the ability to smell, qualitative smell disorders are the distortion of the perception of