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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The brain has specialist neurons for each of the five taste categories - salty, bitter, sour, sweet and umami - US scientists have discovered.
The study, published in the journal Nature, should settle years of debate on how the brain perceives taste.
The Columbia University team showed the separate taste sensors on the tongue had a matching partner in the brain.
The scientists hope the findings could be used to help reverse the loss of taste sensation in the elderly.
It is a myth that you taste sweet only on the tip of the tongue.
Each of the roughly 8,000 taste buds scattered over the tongue is capable of sensing the full suite of tastes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29912877
The study, published in the journal Nature, should settle years of debate on how the brain perceives taste.
The Columbia University team showed the separate taste sensors on the tongue had a matching partner in the brain.
The scientists hope the findings could be used to help reverse the loss of taste sensation in the elderly.
It is a myth that you taste sweet only on the tip of the tongue.
Each of the roughly 8,000 taste buds scattered over the tongue is capable of sensing the full suite of tastes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29912877
