Taste

senses · tongue · flavor · brain

Taste buds everywhere. You don't just taste with your tongue. Taste receptors are also on the roof of your mouth, your throat, and even a flap called the epiglottis that sits above your windpipe.

Chemistry in your mouth. Taste happens when chemicals from food react with special taste receptor cells inside your taste buds. Your brain reads those chemical signals and figures out if something tastes sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or savory.

Smell helps you taste. Your sense of smell does most of the work of flavor. When you eat, smells from the food go up to your nose at the same time your taste buds are working, and together they create the full flavor experience.

Your brain decides. A special area in your brain called the gustatory cortex is what actually turns taste signals into the perception of taste. Without your brain, your taste buds would just be sensors with nothing to interpret.

Five basic tastes. Scientists agree on five main taste sensations your tongue can detect: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory (also called umami).