taste perception

• Colour

  When we artificially change the colour of food or

  drink, a person’s ability to accurately assess its

  flavour is lowered
• Shape

  The shape of food or drink, or the vessel it is in, may

  influence our gustatory perception
• Taste perception

  The sensory activity responsible for the ability to taste is

  known as gustatory perception. This is the process of

  becoming consciously aware of flavour.
• Before sensation begins, when chewing, our saliva breaks down our food into tastants.

  Tastants are first received by our gustatory receptors (sensory receptors for taste), located within

  our tastebuds. Tastebuds are mostly located on our tongue, in a large number of papillae, which are

  small bumps on the tongue. They are also located around the mouth, throat and back of nose

  The tastants are converted into a form that is sent to the brain as a neural impulse,

  and information about the type and intensity of the flavour makes its way to the primary gustatory cortex,
• the five basic flavours of food are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami
• The Gustatory Cortex

  As with vision, taste perception occurs in the cerebral cortex.

  Gustatory perception occurs mostly in the primary gustatory cortex, but the interpretation of the flavour of food can involve some teamwork with other brain areas