A taste bud is made up of about 50-150 receptors that detect the different tastes. 
There is an opening in the taste bud that contains the cilia that detect taste molecules. The opening is called a taste pore. 

Taste buds

The perception of taste begins when molecules from food and drinks dissolve in saliva. These dissolved molecules then bind to taste receptors located on the tongue, in the mouth, and in the throat, which initiates the process of taste signaling.

Activation of Taste Receptors

Taste buds are clusters of taste receptor cells, each featuring hair-like extensions that protrude into a central opening called a taste pore. These sensory structures have a life cycle of approximately ten days to two weeks, after which they are naturally replaced. This constant regeneration ensures that taste function is not permanently lost even if some taste buds are damaged, for instance by burning the tongue.

Taste Buds

The gustatory system transmits taste information from receptor cells to the brain. This neural pathway involves signals traveling through cranial nerves to several key brain regions in sequence: first to the medulla, then through the thalamus and the limbic system, and finally arriving at the gustatory cortex, which is located at the junction of the frontal and temporal lobes.

Gustatory Pathway to the Brain

Based on your understanding of the tongue's structure, analyze why an injury to the tip of the tongue would temporarily impair the sense of taste. In your analysis, identify the specific structures likely affected and explain their role in the process of taste detection.

Impact of Tongue Injury on Taste Perception

There are unique receptor cells on the surface of the tongue that detect different tastes. Structures called papillae are small bumps on the tongue that increase the tongue's surface area . There are three kinds of papillae. 

- circumvallate papillae (located towards back of the tongue)
- foliate papillae (located on the sides of the tongue)
- fungiform papillae (located in the front of the tongue) 

On each papillae, there are taste buds. 

Ohio State University, Columbus

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Taste is a chemical sense

- The five basic tastes
- How taste functions

Taste

Breedlove, S. & Watson, N. (2017). Behavioral neuroscience, eighth edition. Oxford University Press.

Behavioral Neuroscience 8th Edition

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

How taste functions

While it is commonly taught that there are four traditional taste groupings (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter), research has expanded this classification to include at least six. The fifth identified taste is umami, and there is significant experimental evidence supporting the existence of a sixth taste for the fatty content of food.

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