Need To Know Basics

Dr. Linda M. Bartoshuk, Sense of Taste

Posted on January 27th, 2009 in Biology, Chemistry

Linda Bartoshuk [wikipedia], psychotherapist Ph.D. is a researcher in the chemical senses of taste and smell and a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. She’s been featured as a cool scientist and already answered many questions with PBS.

Dr. Bartoshuk‘s research explores the genetic variations in taste perception and how taste perception affects overall health.

Dr. Bartoshuk thinks you should know…

1. We do not all live in the same taste worlds. The normal range is about a factor of three; supertasters experience the most intense taste experiences (they tend to have the most tastebuds). This variation is believed to be in part genetic, but the exact mechanisms are unknown. Genetic variation in taste perception affects food liking which affects intake. Variation in diet affect risk factors for a variety of health problems (e.g., certain cancers, obesity).
2. There are links between the number of tastebuds and the ability to experience oral burn (chilis) and oral touch (fats and thickeners). There are also links between perceived taste intensity and retronasal but not orthonasal olfaction. (Retronasal olfaction is olfaction experienced when odorants emitted from food in the mouth are forced up behind the palate during chewing or swallowing-flavor; orthonasal olfaction is smelling through the nostrils). Thus supertasters experience more intense oral burn, touch, and flavor as well as more intense taste.
3. Taste damage is clinically quite common. The major sources are upper respiratory infections, ear infections, dental anesthesia for the lower teeth, antibiotics and head injury. Taste normally inhibits other oral sensations so these may be intensified when taste is damaged; patients can also experience oral phantoms (i.e., sensations in the absence of stimulation). Taste damage in supertasters can lead to burning mouth syndrome (a central phantom of oral pain in the absence of any visible pathology) and weight gain (intensified sensations evoked by fats and other thickeners in foods can make them more palatable).

Still to be discovered…

• Many years ago, philosophers divided our experiences into three categories: sensory (the “five” senses), internal (hunger, thirst, etc) and hedonic (pleasure, displeasure). We have made great strides understanding how to compare sensory experiences among us (the trick is to compare sensations of interest to other unrelated sensations). Can we do the same for internal and hedonic experiences? Can we compare all of these experiences on a common scale? We do not yet know.