82 Taste and Smell

Taste and smell are both abilities to sense chemicals, so both taste and olfactory (odor) receptors are chemoreceptors. Both types of chemoreceptors send nerve impulses to the brain along sensory nerves, and the brain “tells” us what we are tasting or smelling.

Taste receptors are found in tiny bumps on the tongue called taste buds. You can see a diagram of a taste receptor cell and related structures in Figure 8.7.10. Taste receptor cells make contact with chemicals in food through tiny openings called taste pores. When certain chemicals bind with taste receptor cells, it generates nerve impulses that travel through afferent nerves to the CNS. There are separate taste receptors for sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and meaty tastes. The meaty — or savory — taste is called umami.

Figure 8.7.10 Taste receptor cells are located in taste buds on the tongue. Basal cells are not involved in tasting, but differentiate into taste receptor cells. Taste receptor cells are replaced about every nine to ten days.
Olfactory Cells
Figure 8.7.11 The yellow structures inside this drawing of the nasal passages are an olfactory nerve with many nerve endings. The nerve endings sense chemicals in the air as it passes through the nasal cavities.

Human Biology Copyright © 2020 by Christine Miller is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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HSCI 10171 - Anatomy & Physiology Copyright © 2013 by OSCRiceUniversity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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