The tongue has an ingenious design. Receptors responsible for getting information are separate and compartmentalized. So, different areas on the tongue actually have receptors for different types of tastes. This helps us to separate and enjoy the distinct flavors. In this experiment, you will be locating the receptors for sweet, sour, salty, and bitter on the tongue’s surface.
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could you use coffee for bitter
Update July 2015. Still not true. Tongue map is a thing of the past. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/13/map-tastes-tongue-no-scientific-basis_n_7765152.html
Umami is a savory taste and is one of the five basic tastes, together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Does that help?
What about umami?
I think I’ll solve it by selecting some “test subjects” and having them put, for example, something bitter in the area of their tongue that is supposed to taste sweetness. If you have another method, please let me know! 🙂
I’ll try testing it, and see if its right. I’ll let you know my results my results once I finish.
This is so fun! I love it when things like this happen. What do YOU think you can do to figure out who’s right?
I’ve sent a request into my biology team, but until I hear back from them, do let me know how you’d solve this puzzle… you are a scientist, after all! And this is science in action!
http://www.livescience.com/7113-tongue-map-tasteless-myth-debunked.html
This is a link my mom found. Hope it helps!
I saw the link. Maybe that was disproved as well. I have done a series of experiments on it and have not found any specific change, but I’m just one person. I’m open to more evidence.
Thanks. I was talking about it with my mom, and she said it’s not true, and she’s not always right, so thanks!
I wasn’t aware of any research that disproved the tongue had taste receptors. Let me know what you find out so we can be sure to present accurate information. Here’s general info on the current knowledge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste_bud
This was scientifically disproved as incorrect after a while, and your tongue does not have any specific taste receptors anywhere.