TASTE AND SMELL

There are a large number of taste buds all over the surface of the tongue. Food is mixed with saliva in the mouth and some of the mixture goes through the taste pores, stimulating sensory cells. As dissolved material touches these, signals are sent to the brain.

Taste and smell are closely linked. Both combine to identify the flavor of food. With a cold we can still taste whether food is sweet, sour, salt or bitter, but without the smell, the flavor is not the same. The upper part of the nose contains many olfactory( smelling) cells. Chemical substances in the air are dissolved in mucus in the nose. The smell is then picked up by  the olfactory cells and the brain is informed. New smells are learned by the brain and stored for future recall.

·        A well- trained person is said to be able to detect up to 10,000 different smells. The brain remembers them so that we can recall them at a later date.

·        Of our 9,000 or so taste buds, most are on the tongue. Others are on the roof of the mouth and the back of the throat.

·        We sniff when a smell reaches our nose to get more of the scent to the olfactory cells. If the smell is unpleasant, we stop sniffing. These cells also tell us when we smell dangerous things such as gas.

·        Nerves for taste and smell send messages to an area quite low down at the front of the brain.