PSYB65H3 Lecture 9: Lecture 09
Document Summary
Gustation - refers to the ability to taste. There are 5 different taste receptors that we have in the oral cavity; most of these are located on the tongue, they are also on the pallet and everything at the back of the mouth as well. They are described based on what they are receptive to. We have taste receptors associated with the chemical stimuli of something being sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. A 5th is also being argued upon, called umami (sensitive to glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter) At the top of taste receptors are micro-villi, which interact with the environment that they are immersed in. With the reactions of different stimuli, different receptors are going to have different perceptions of taste. Their activity opens and closes ion channels, and this leads to greater activity that exists the tongue or other taste receptors in the oral cavity, and ends its way out through cranial nerves (specifically 7, 9, and 10)
