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    • Image courtesy of researchgate.net

      researchgate.net

      • Smell and taste are critical senses, helping us detect hazardous substances we might inhale or ingest before they can harm us. Our sense organs are the brain’s windows to the external world. The closely linked taste (gustation) and smell (olfaction) senses help us navigate the chemical world.
      www.brainfacts.org/thinking-sensing-and-behaving/taste/2020/how-taste-and-smell-work-011720
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  2. Apr 1, 2012 · Taste and smell are separate senses with their own receptor organs, yet they are intimately entwined. Tastants, chemicals in foods, are detected by taste buds, which consist of special sensory cells. When stimulated, these cells send signals to specific areas of the brain, which make us conscious of the perception of taste.

    • Taste

      When you take a bite of a hot pepper, your body reacts as if...

  3. Sep 14, 2021 · Why is smell important? Your olfactory system, the part of the body that serves the sense of smell, has many important functions. It helps people determine what to eat, influences taste and affects socialization.

  4. Jan 24, 2023 · If the sense of smell is impaired – for instance, because of a stuffy nose – it is usually harder to taste things properly too. What are the basic tastes? Based on the information that is transported from the tongue to the brain, there are thought to be at least five basic qualities of taste.

    • 2023/01/24
    • From Molecules to Taste
    • From Molecules to Smell
    • Taste and Smell in Aging
    • Combining Taste and Smell

    Our ability to taste depends on the molecules set free when we chew or drink. These molecules are detected by gustatory cells in taste buds on the tongue and along the roof and back of the mouth. Each taste bud has sensory cells that respond to one of at least five basic taste qualities: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. All tastes are detecte...

    Like taste, the sense of smell depends on detecting molecules. Odors are small molecules that can become airborne. They enter the nose on air currents and bind to specialized cells. These olfactory neurons reside on a small patch of mucus membrane high inside the nasal cavity. The tips of olfactory cells are equipped with several hair-like structur...

    We lose some of our sensitivity to taste and smell as we age. The cells that process tastes and smells are exposed to the outside environment. Usually, since these cells are exposed and therefore vulnerable to damage, taste receptor cells regularly regenerate. However, as we age, damaged receptors and sensory neurons might not be replaced by new on...

    You may notice the relationship between taste and smell when a cold stuffs up your nose and everything tastes bland. It seems like taste no longer works. The real problem is that during a cold, you’re detecting only taste, rather than taste and smell combined. Taste and smell information appear to converge in several central brain regions. There ar...

  5. Taste and smell are closely related—they combine to produce our perception of flavor, and they rely on receptors (neurons) that actually come into contact with the environment outside our body. The rest of our sensory neurons are protected from the world by a layer of skin or some other tissue.

  6. Jul 20, 2021 · Smell can impact your perception of flavor in one of two ways: as a constitutive part of that flavor, or as a modulatory force. In the former case, a smell is part of the flavor itself. And in the latter, a smell alters or adjusts your perception of a taste.

  7. Sep 20, 2023 · The sense of smell plays a vital role in finding food, discriminating it from toxic substances, and appreciating its flavor (smell is a key component of what we commonly call “taste”-see below).