The human body is very unique and amazing. Everything that we do in our daily life has a process that our body goes through just to make these things happen. It is so many elements phases that our brain goes through for our body to smell or taste something. So let’s explore this journey of smell and taste.
Impacts of smell and taste When we taste something it is a process. Molecules enter the body in a solid or liquid form. They stimulate taste receptors on the tongue. There are five basic taste sensations: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami. Umami is the latest addition. It is considered to be meaty, broth, or savory. Tasting begins with the tongue, which contains papillae. Papillae are divided into four areas: *Filiform are shaped like cones and are over the entire surface of the tongue making a rough appearance *Fungiform are shaped like mushrooms and are at the tip and sides of the tongue *Foliate are series of folds along the back of the tongue and on the sides *Circumvilliate are shaped like flat mounds surrounded by a trench and at the back of the tongue
All of the papillae except the filiform papillae contain taste buds and the whole tongue contains about 10,000 taste buds (Bartoshuk, 1971). Our sense of smell comes from our olfactory system. This system has odorant molecules that flow over the olfactory mucosa. The mucosa contains over 350 types of olfactory receptor neurons. The olfactory system also acts as our “alarm system”. It helps us detect dangerous smells. And is very important to certain animals. Many animals are “macrosmatic” meaning that they have a keen sense of smell. It is important to their survival. The taste and smell sensation work together for satisfaction. It has been that way for a very long time. We smell things before we taste them to see if it is spoil and safe to eat. We smell things that we are eating for