Rather, the research has shown that cells in the taste buds communicate with each other, actively accepting, rejecting and modifying taste stimuli through a complicated network of chemical and electrical signals before sending signals to the brain.Īs scientists scramble to decipher those signals, they are finding that taste stimuli can affect the taste-bud cells in unexpected ways. These include modifying people's "taste appetites" to aid in weight control, make dull, nutritious foods taste better, improve the taste perceptions and appetites of the elderly, produce tastier substitutes for sugars and salt, and develop drugs to counter taste disorders.Ĭontrary to long-held beliefs, the new studies reveal taste buds to be far more than simple conduits that immediately pass on information about sweet, sour, salty and bitter substances to the brain to tell you what you are eating and help you decide whether you want more. The information gleaned from taste-cell studies, mainly on animals like the mudpuppy and catfish, is expected to lead eventually to many tangible benefits.
#Taste buds series
Such a dish would send the taste buds into overdrive as they raced through a series of recently discovered biophysical reactions to process the complex seasonings even before you swallowed the first bite. But loss of smell is also reported with aging.WHILE shrimp barbecued in a tangy marinade may provide your taste buds with a burst of simple delight, researchers who study the workings of individual taste cells have recently shown that those sensory organs are far from simple. While the tongue only detects a handful of flavors, the nose detects thousands of smells and is intimately related to the ability to detect the tastes we associate with certain foods. "Sometimes people who come in complaining of a loss of taste are actually losing their sense of smell," says Parnes. (The condition is called anosmia, and Parnes figured out he had it at 8 years old, when his friends would complain about odors that he couldn't detect at school.) Parnes sympathizes with people with a dampened sense of taste, because he's never had a sense of smell. Parnes says based on his clinical observations, the amount of loss varies from one individual to another, but women generally report losing taste in their 50s and men in their 60s. In addition, some kinds of medication can interfere with taste. Though taste buds generally seem to be good at regenerating even with age, older taste buds are less adept at regenerating after injury. This penchant for regeneration is why one recovers the ability to taste only a few days after burning the tongue on a hot beverage, according to Parnes.Īging may change that ability. "You lose all your senses as you get older, except hopefully not your sense of humor," says Steven Parnes, an ENT-otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor) working in Albany, N.Y.Ī taste bud is good at regenerating its cells replace themselves every 1-2 weeks. But they probably don't think to add taste and smell to the list.
When people think about growing older, they may worry about worsening vision and hearing.
"When we would tease him, he would shrug his shoulders and just say he liked it." But Hunt's father, a retired registered nurse, had a theory: Her grandfather liked strong flavors because of his old age and its effects on taste. "I remember teasing him because he literally put ketchup or Tabasco sauce on everything," says Hunt. For example, Amy Hunt, a stay-at-home mom in Austin, Texas, says her grandfather cultivated some unusual taste preferences in his 80s. Sometimes people develop strange eating habits as they age. You're born with roughly 9,000 taste buds, and they're very good at regenerating - which is why you can recover the ability to taste just days after burning your tongue.
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