Chemical Senses

Chemical Senses

  • Submitted By: Unuldor
  • Date Submitted: 10/12/2015 10:22 PM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 1245
  • Page: 5

Laura Devine
9/28/15
Psy/385
TL Cruz

Chemical Senses and Us


Many of us know what that having a great meal can be both satisfying and memorable, yet most people don’t’ realize that it is not just our sense of taste at work. There are many other receptors at work, including the sense of smell. Most may not believe this, but smell is in itself more important than the taste buds on our tongue. Soon, I’ll explain to everyone how with both smell and taste coexist and how they affect all our chemical senses and the world.
Just as sound has perception of the changes in air pressure, tastes and smells have the perception and ability to distinguish different chemicals in both the mouth and air. Even though they are separate senses and organs, they are nonetheless entwined to make an intimate experience. Taste and smell are separate senses with their own receptor organs, yet they are intimately entwined. There are many reasons why they combine, “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. Similarly, specialized cells in the nose pick up odorants, airborne odor molecules. Odorants stimulate receptor proteins found on hair like cilia at the tips of the sensory cells, a process that initiates a neural response. Ultimately, messages about taste and smell converge, allowing us to detect the flavors of food.” (Kibiuk). This is how the brain works when you combine taste and smell. All smells do is many amazing things can go on. Even emotion and memory can be stimulated by this dynamic combination of smell and taste. It completely depends on the person that and their personal perception of said chemical.
Many wonder after learning that it is a combination of smell and taste make everything in our palate taste what it does, they question which one is more important. The truth of...

Similar Essays