You Taste With Your Brain, Not The Tongue

You have probably heard the expression “That person has a very picky palate.” But this statement is not entirely correct, since in reality you are tasting with your brain and not with your mouth. Our understanding of the sense of taste is still very limited. However, data from various empirical studies support the following ideas.

Eating is a basic task that is important for your survival. However, many disorders are associated with our choice of bad food.

Taste has a lot to do with how much and what you decide to eat. Therefore, understanding how it works can help you avoid certain disorders. Such diseases can be due to too little food, too much food or the poor quality of the food you choose.

You taste with your brain

The first contact you have with the taste of food undoubtedly occurs in the mouth. When you taste food, the taste first affects the taste buds on the tongue, palate and throat. Immediately afterwards, messages are sent from these places to the information reception centers in your brain. These ranges then interpret the received signals.

Understand taste

First, this sensory information reaches the postal central area of ​​the parietal lobe. This is where most projections from the sensory input systems are received. However, these messages activate the brain’s isolated cortex, which is responsible for identifying the taste you taste.

This was discovered in a study where a group of people were analyzed with functional magnetic resonance imaging while trying different flavors and foods. The study found that the brain isolate decodes the signals coming from the taste buds, and they respond differently to each new taste. Therefore, it is the activation pattern, not the activated brain area that lets you know what taste you are tasting.

Acceptance or rejection

But the phenomenon goes much further. The information that your senses send when you taste food also reaches the amygdala. This region is located in the temporal lobe and is responsible for identifying whether a taste is pleasant or not. Therefore, you accept it or reject it.

It is a fascinating fact that the same taste can provoke two completely opposite reactions in two different people. For example, many people love chocolate, while others may hate it. It is believed that the amygdala is responsible for performing this evaluation.

However, your sense of taste and your taste preferences develop, either by training them or just by time. As a child, for example, you thought coffee tasted awful, but as you got older, you began to appreciate it. Thus, you actually changed your mind quite dramatically.

Memory

It is a region in the brain that helps you remember if you have previously experienced a particular taste. It is the limbic system that houses the sensory memory of the sense of taste. Thanks to this system, you know if you have tried certain foods before and what you experienced if and when you tried it.

This is the way you “educate your palate” to remember subtleties and differentiate flavors. For example, when taking a wine or olive oil course. When you try to get to know the different flavors, you can also remember and identify them.

Implications of knowledge that you taste with the brain

There is still a lot to learn about how the taste works. However, the findings described here have made it possible to understand how it works a little better.

Then we know that your brain is able to distinguish between different tastes and decide how you react. We also know that you can train your brain to remember and distinguish between subtleties in different flavors. For this reason, it is recommended that you pay full attention when eating or drinking.

However, it has not yet been discovered why certain foods can be delicious for one person and horrible for another. As soon as we reach that milestone, we will be able to make great strides in the development of healthy food.